diff --git a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
index 42cf6b89f8f02d..c6589e0587c977 100644
--- a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
+++ b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
@@ -3509,8 +3509,8 @@ end
 
 ## circular shift
 
-#swaps blocks start:split and split+1:fin in col
-function swap!(col::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Integer, split::Integer)
+# thius helper in-place swaps blocks start:split and split+1:fin in col
+function _swap!(col::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Integer, split::Integer)
     split == fin && return
     reverse!(col, start, split)
     reverse!(col, split + 1, fin)
@@ -3519,8 +3519,8 @@ function swap!(col::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Integer, split::Integer
 end
 
 
-#this helper shifts a column by r
-function shifter!(R::AbstractVector, V::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Integer, m::Integer, r::Integer)
+# this helper shifts a column by r. Used also by sparsevector.jl
+function subvector_shifter!(R::AbstractVector, V::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Integer, m::Integer, r::Integer)
     split = fin
     @inbounds for j = start:fin
         # shift in the vertical direction...
@@ -3532,8 +3532,8 @@ function shifter!(R::AbstractVector, V::AbstractVector, start::Integer, fin::Int
         end
     end
     # ...but rowval should be sorted within columns
-    swap!(R, start, fin, split)
-    swap!(V, start, fin, split)
+    _swap!(R, start, fin, split)
+    _swap!(V, start, fin, split)
 end
 
 
@@ -3567,7 +3567,7 @@ function circshift!(O::SparseMatrixCSC, X::SparseMatrixCSC, (r,c)::Base.DimsInte
     ##### vertical shift
     r = mod(r, X.m)
     @inbounds for i=1:O.n
-        shifter!(O.rowval, O.nzval, O.colptr[i], O.colptr[i+1]-1, O.m, r)
+        subvector_shifter!(O.rowval, O.nzval, O.colptr[i], O.colptr[i+1]-1, O.m, r)
     end
     return O
 end
diff --git a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsevector.jl b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsevector.jl
index 73d14f16e2cfca..432fceb24b485c 100644
--- a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsevector.jl
+++ b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsevector.jl
@@ -1980,7 +1980,7 @@ end
 
 function circshift!(O::SparseVector, X::SparseVector, (r,)::Base.DimsInteger{1})
     O .= X
-    shifter!(O.nzind, O.nzval, 1, length(O.nzind), O.n, mod(r, X.n))
+    subvector_shifter!(O.nzind, O.nzval, 1, length(O.nzind), O.n, mod(r, X.n))
     return O
 end