diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/docbook.py b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/docbook.py
index d54392cca553..671cc24e0673 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/docbook.py
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/docbook.py
@@ -6,19 +6,6 @@ from xml.sax.saxutils import escape, quoteattr
 
 from .md import Renderer
 
-_xml_id_translate_table = {
-    ord('*'): ord('_'),
-    ord('<'): ord('_'),
-    ord(' '): ord('_'),
-    ord('>'): ord('_'),
-    ord('['): ord('_'),
-    ord(']'): ord('_'),
-    ord(':'): ord('_'),
-    ord('"'): ord('_'),
-}
-def make_xml_id(s: str) -> str:
-    return s.translate(_xml_id_translate_table)
-
 class Deflist:
     has_dd = False
 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual.py b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual.py
index c72a9d53cd18..af2c5af0b153 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual.py
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual.py
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ from typing import Any, Callable, cast, ClassVar, Generic, get_args, NamedTuple
 from markdown_it.token import Token
 
 from . import md, options
-from .docbook import DocBookRenderer, Heading, make_xml_id
+from .docbook import DocBookRenderer, Heading
 from .html import HTMLRenderer, UnresolvedXrefError
-from .manual_structure import check_structure, FragmentType, is_include, TocEntry, TocEntryType, XrefTarget
+from .manual_structure import check_structure, FragmentType, is_include, make_xml_id, TocEntry, TocEntryType, XrefTarget
 from .md import Converter, Renderer
 
 class BaseConverter(Converter[md.TR], Generic[md.TR]):
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual_structure.py b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual_structure.py
index c6e6bf429370..724ca4b72707 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual_structure.py
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/manual_structure.py
@@ -201,3 +201,20 @@ class TocEntry(Freezeable):
         while len(entries) > 1:
             entries[-2][1].children.append(entries.pop()[1])
         return (entries[0][1], examples, figures)
+
+_xml_id_translate_table = {
+    ord('*'): ord('_'),
+    ord('<'): ord('_'),
+    ord(' '): ord('_'),
+    ord('>'): ord('_'),
+    ord('['): ord('_'),
+    ord(']'): ord('_'),
+    ord(':'): ord('_'),
+    ord('"'): ord('_'),
+}
+# this function is needed to generate option id attributes in the same format as
+# the docbook toolchain did to not break existing links. we don't actually use
+# xml any more, that's just the legacy we're dealing with and part of our structure
+# now.
+def make_xml_id(s: str) -> str:
+    return s.translate(_xml_id_translate_table)
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/options.py b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/options.py
index 9a00da567fa9..699164c8a1a8 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/options.py
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/options.py
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ from . import md
 from . import parallel
 from .asciidoc import AsciiDocRenderer, asciidoc_escape
 from .commonmark import CommonMarkRenderer
-from .docbook import DocBookRenderer, make_xml_id
+from .docbook import DocBookRenderer
 from .html import HTMLRenderer
 from .manpage import ManpageRenderer, man_escape
-from .manual_structure import XrefTarget
+from .manual_structure import make_xml_id, XrefTarget
 from .md import Converter, md_escape, md_make_code
 from .types import OptionLoc, Option, RenderedOption