diff --git a/kerchunk/hdf.py b/kerchunk/hdf.py
index 7d416f8..bc00517 100644
--- a/kerchunk/hdf.py
+++ b/kerchunk/hdf.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import io
 import logging
 from typing import Union, BinaryIO
-from packaging.version import Version
 
 import fsspec.core
 from fsspec.implementations.reference import LazyReferenceMapper
@@ -10,10 +9,8 @@
 import zarr
 import numcodecs
 
-from kerchunk.zarr import dict_to_store
-
 from .codecs import FillStringsCodec
-from .utils import _encode_for_JSON, encode_fill_value
+from .utils import _encode_for_JSON, encode_fill_value, dict_to_store
 
 try:
     import h5py
diff --git a/kerchunk/tests/test_netcdf.py b/kerchunk/tests/test_netcdf.py
index 0036c0a..755823d 100644
--- a/kerchunk/tests/test_netcdf.py
+++ b/kerchunk/tests/test_netcdf.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import os
-from typing import Any
 
 
 import fsspec
@@ -8,7 +7,7 @@
 import pytest
 from kerchunk import netCDF3
 
-import zarr
+from kerchunk.utils import refs_as_store
 
 xr = pytest.importorskip("xarray")
 
@@ -27,29 +26,19 @@
 )
 
 
-def create_store(test_dict: dict, remote_options: Any = None):
-    if Version(zarr.__version__) < Version("3.0.0.a0"):
-        return fsspec.get_mapper(
-            "reference://", fo=test_dict, remote_protocol="s3", remote_options=remote_options
-        )
-    else:
-        fs = fsspec.implementations.reference.ReferenceFileSystem(fo=test_dict, remote_options=remote_options)
-        return zarr.storage.RemoteStore(fs, mode="r")
-
-
 def test_one(m):
     m.pipe("data.nc3", bdata)
     h = netCDF3.netcdf_recording_file("memory://data.nc3")
     out = h.translate()
 
-    store = create_store(out, remote_options={"remote_protocol": "memory"})
+    store = refs_as_store(out, remote_protocol="memory")
 
     ds = xr.open_dataset(
         store,
         engine="zarr",
         backend_kwargs={
             "consolidated": False,
-            "zarr_format": "2",
+            "zarr_format": 2,
         },
     )
     assert (ds.data == data).all()
diff --git a/kerchunk/utils.py b/kerchunk/utils.py
index 59aad1a..c90f89f 100644
--- a/kerchunk/utils.py
+++ b/kerchunk/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import base64
 import copy
 import itertools
+from packaging.version import Version
 from typing import Any, cast
 import warnings
 
@@ -10,8 +11,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 import zarr
 
-from kerchunk.zarr import fs_as_store
-
 
 def refs_as_fs(refs, remote_protocol=None, remote_options=None, **kwargs):
     """Convert a reference set to an fsspec filesystem"""
@@ -33,6 +32,38 @@ def refs_as_store(refs, remote_protocol=None, remote_options=None):
     return fs_as_store(fs)
 
 
+def is_zarr3():
+    """Check if the installed zarr version is version 3"""
+    return Version(zarr.__version__) >= Version("3.0.0.a0")
+
+
+def dict_to_store(store_dict: dict):
+    """Create an in memory zarr store backed by the given dictionary"""
+    if is_zarr3():
+        return zarr.storage.MemoryStore(mode="a", store_dict=store_dict)
+    else:
+        return zarr.storage.KVStore(store_dict)
+
+
+def fs_as_store(fs, mode='r', remote_protocol=None, remote_options=None):
+    """Open the refs as a zarr store
+    
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    refs: dict-like
+        the references to open
+    mode: str
+    
+    Returns
+    -------
+    zarr.storage.Store or zarr.storage.Mapper, fsspec.AbstractFileSystem
+    """
+    if is_zarr3():
+        return zarr.storage.RemoteStore(fs, mode=mode)
+    else:
+        return fs.get_mapper()
+
+
 def class_factory(func):
     """Experimental uniform API across function-based file scanners"""
 
diff --git a/kerchunk/zarr.py b/kerchunk/zarr.py
index 5560ea9..ea0612d 100644
--- a/kerchunk/zarr.py
+++ b/kerchunk/zarr.py
@@ -1,44 +1,9 @@
-from packaging.version import Version
-
 import fsspec
 from fsspec.implementations.reference import LazyReferenceMapper
-import zarr
 
 import kerchunk.utils
 
 
-def is_zarr3():
-    """Check if the installed zarr version is version 3"""
-    return Version(zarr.__version__) >= Version("3.0.0.a0")
-
-
-def dict_to_store(store_dict: dict):
-    """Create an in memory zarr store backed by the given dictionary"""
-    if is_zarr3():
-        return zarr.storage.MemoryStore(mode="a", store_dict=store_dict)
-    else:
-        return zarr.storage.KVStore(store_dict)
-
-
-def fs_as_store(fs, mode='r', remote_protocol=None, remote_options=None):
-    """Open the refs as a zarr store
-    
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    refs: dict-like
-        the references to open
-    mode: str
-    
-    Returns
-    -------
-    zarr.storage.Store or zarr.storage.Mapper, fsspec.AbstractFileSystem
-    """
-    if is_zarr3():
-        return zarr.storage.RemoteStore(fs, mode=mode)
-    else:
-        return fs.get_mapper()
-
-
 def single_zarr(
     uri_or_store,
     storage_options=None,