diff --git a/snix/nix-compat/src/nixhash/mod.rs b/snix/nix-compat/src/nixhash/mod.rs
index edb34e57b..2be8caa10 100644
--- a/snix/nix-compat/src/nixhash/mod.rs
+++ b/snix/nix-compat/src/nixhash/mod.rs
@@ -93,7 +93,11 @@ impl NixHash {
     /// Formats a [NixHash] in the Nix default hash format,
     /// which is the algo, followed by a colon, then the lower hex encoded digest.
     pub fn to_nix_hex_string(&self) -> String {
-        format!("{}:{}", self.algo(), self.to_plain_hex_string())
+        format!(
+            "{}:{}",
+            self.algo(),
+            HEXLOWER.encode(self.digest_as_bytes())
+        )
     }
 
     /// Formats a [NixHash] in the format that's used inside CAHash,
@@ -123,11 +127,6 @@ impl NixHash {
 
         s
     }
-
-    /// Returns the digest as a hex string -- without any algorithm prefix.
-    pub fn to_plain_hex_string(&self) -> String {
-        HEXLOWER.encode(self.digest_as_bytes())
-    }
 }
 
 impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for NixHash {