diff --git a/flow/scripts/io_placement.tcl b/flow/scripts/io_placement.tcl
index c7c003b36d..92b97fa8fa 100644
--- a/flow/scripts/io_placement.tcl
+++ b/flow/scripts/io_placement.tcl
@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
 source $::env(SCRIPTS_DIR)/load.tcl
 load_design 3_1_place_gp_skip_io.odb 2_floorplan.sdc
 
-if {[info exists ::env(FLOORPLAN_DEF)]} {
-    puts "Skipping IO placement as DEF file was used to initialize floorplan."
-} else {
-  if {[info exists ::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)]} {
-    source $::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)
-  }
-  place_pins -hor_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_H) \
-           -ver_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_V) \
-           {*}$::env(PLACE_PINS_ARGS)
-}
+source $::env(SCRIPTS_DIR)/io_placement_util.tcl
 
 write_db $::env(RESULTS_DIR)/3_2_place_iop.odb
diff --git a/flow/scripts/io_placement_random.tcl b/flow/scripts/io_placement_random.tcl
index c17626b7c0..cb52ddf931 100644
--- a/flow/scripts/io_placement_random.tcl
+++ b/flow/scripts/io_placement_random.tcl
@@ -1,16 +1,8 @@
 source $::env(SCRIPTS_DIR)/load.tcl
 load_design 2_1_floorplan.odb 1_synth.sdc
 
-if {[info exists ::env(FLOORPLAN_DEF)]} {
-    puts "Skipping IO placement as DEF file was used to initialize floorplan."
-} else {
-  if {[info exists ::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)]} {
-    source $::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)
-  }
-  place_pins -hor_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_H) \
-           -ver_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_V) \
-           -random \
-           {*}$::env(PLACE_PINS_ARGS)
-}
+lappend ::env(PLACE_PINS_ARGS) -random
+
+source $::env(SCRIPTS_DIR)/io_placement_util.tcl
 
 write_db $::env(RESULTS_DIR)/2_2_floorplan_io.odb
diff --git a/flow/scripts/io_placement_util.tcl b/flow/scripts/io_placement_util.tcl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c206d496cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flow/scripts/io_placement_util.tcl
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+if {[info exists ::env(FLOORPLAN_DEF)]} {
+    puts "Skipping IO placement as DEF file was used to initialize floorplan."
+} else {
+  if {[info exists ::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)]} {
+    source $::env(IO_CONSTRAINTS)
+  }
+  set args [list -hor_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_H) \
+           -ver_layer $::env(IO_PLACER_V) \
+           {*}$::env(PLACE_PINS_ARGS)]
+  puts "place_pins [join $args " "]"
+  place_pins {*}$args
+}