diff --git a/docker/rucio_client/scripts/user_to_site_mapping.py b/docker/rucio_client/scripts/user_to_site_mapping.py
index 0f3f4b2..1216ebe 100755
--- a/docker/rucio_client/scripts/user_to_site_mapping.py
+++ b/docker/rucio_client/scripts/user_to_site_mapping.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 sys.path.insert(1, './tests')
 from policy_test import TestPolicy
 from cric_user import CricUser
+from utils import rfc2253dn
 
 PROXY = os.getenv('X509_USER_PROXY')
 
@@ -163,21 +164,6 @@ def usage():
     print("\t-d, --dry_run=\tt|f")
 
 
-def rfc2253dn(legacy_dn):
-    """
-    Convert a slash separated DN to a comma separated format
-    :param legacy_dn:
-    :return:
-    """
-    if not legacy_dn.startswith('/'):  # No op for things which aren't DNs
-        return legacy_dn
-    legacy_dn = legacy_dn.replace(',', r'\,')
-    parts = legacy_dn.split('/')[1:]  # Get rid of leading slash
-    new_dn = ','.join(parts)
-
-    return new_dn
-
-
 def main():
     option = 'set-new-only'
     dry_run = False
diff --git a/docker/rucio_client/scripts/utils.py b/docker/rucio_client/scripts/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84d65f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/rucio_client/scripts/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"""
+Common utility functions between scripts
+"""
+
+RFC_ATTRIBUTE_ORDER = ["CN", "L", "ST", "O", "OU", "C", "STREET", "DC", "UID"]
+
+def get_attribute(attribute: str) -> str:
+    """Extracts attribute key"""
+    try:
+        return attribute[:attribute.index("=")]
+    except ValueError:
+        # print(f"element lacks attribute, {attribute}, {dn}")
+        return ""
+
+
+def rfc2253dn(legacy_dn: str, verbose: bool = False) -> str:
+    """Converts legacy slash DB to comma separated DN"""
+    if not legacy_dn.startswith('/'):
+        if verbose:
+            print(f'DN does not start with /: {legacy_dn}')
+        return legacy_dn
+
+    # replace commas with an escape character
+    legacy_dn = legacy_dn.replace(',', r'\,')
+    parts = legacy_dn.split('/')[1:]
+
+    # parts are reversed. See https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2253#section-2.3
+    elements = parts[::-1]
+    attributes = [get_attribute(e) for e in elements]
+
+    # skip any DNs who have an element without an attribute
+    if "" in attributes:
+        return ""
+
+    if verbose:
+        print(f"Attributes: {attributes}")
+        print(f"Expected order: {RFC_ATTRIBUTE_ORDER}")
+
+    indexes = []
+    for attr in attributes:
+        try:
+            indexes.append(RFC_ATTRIBUTE_ORDER.index(attr))
+        except ValueError:
+            # skips any DNs that don't have a attribute in the RFC_ATTRIBUTE_ORDER
+            pass
+
+    # sort existing attributes based on expected attribute order
+    result = [a[0] for a in sorted(zip(elements, attributes, indexes), key=lambda x: x[2])]
+
+    if verbose:
+        print(f"original: {legacy_dn}\nindexes: {indexes}\nconverted: {','.join(result)}")
+
+    return ','.join(result)