diff --git a/cmd/crictl/templates.go b/cmd/crictl/templates.go
index b8ed4491b9..0631c5236f 100644
--- a/cmd/crictl/templates.go
+++ b/cmd/crictl/templates.go
@@ -77,6 +77,6 @@ func tmplExecuteRawJSON(tmplStr, rawJSON string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func validateTemplate(tmplStr string) error {
-	_, err := template.New("").Parse(tmplStr)
+	_, err := template.New("").Funcs(builtinTmplFuncs()).Parse(tmplStr)
 	return err
 }