diff --git a/R-package/NAMESPACE b/R-package/NAMESPACE
index 49f93bb57274..bb5959eab247 100644
--- a/R-package/NAMESPACE
+++ b/R-package/NAMESPACE
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ S3method(print,xgb.DMatrix)
 S3method(print,xgb.cv.synchronous)
 S3method(setinfo,xgb.Booster)
 S3method(setinfo,xgb.DMatrix)
-S3method(slice,xgb.DMatrix)
 S3method(variable.names,xgb.Booster)
 export("xgb.attr<-")
 export("xgb.attributes<-")
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ export(cb.reset.parameters)
 export(cb.save.model)
 export(getinfo)
 export(setinfo)
-export(slice)
 export(xgb.DMatrix)
 export(xgb.DMatrix.hasinfo)
 export(xgb.DMatrix.save)
@@ -70,6 +68,7 @@ export(xgb.save)
 export(xgb.save.raw)
 export(xgb.set.config)
 export(xgb.slice.Booster)
+export(xgb.slice.DMatrix)
 export(xgb.train)
 export(xgboost)
 import(methods)
diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R b/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
index da036b952b83..fa3340982318 100644
--- a/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.DMatrix.R
@@ -1256,19 +1256,15 @@ xgb.get.DMatrix.data <- function(dmat) {
 #' data(agaricus.train, package='xgboost')
 #' dtrain <- with(agaricus.train, xgb.DMatrix(data, label = label, nthread = 2))
 #'
-#' dsub <- slice(dtrain, 1:42)
+#' dsub <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dtrain, 1:42)
 #' labels1 <- getinfo(dsub, 'label')
 #' dsub <- dtrain[1:42, ]
 #' labels2 <- getinfo(dsub, 'label')
 #' all.equal(labels1, labels2)
 #'
-#' @rdname slice.xgb.DMatrix
+#' @rdname xgb.slice.DMatrix
 #' @export
-slice <- function(object, idxset) UseMethod("slice")
-
-#' @rdname slice.xgb.DMatrix
-#' @export
-slice.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, idxset) {
+xgb.slice.DMatrix <- function(object, idxset) {
   if (!inherits(object, "xgb.DMatrix")) {
     stop("object must be xgb.DMatrix")
   }
@@ -1292,10 +1288,10 @@ slice.xgb.DMatrix <- function(object, idxset) {
   return(structure(ret, class = "xgb.DMatrix"))
 }
 
-#' @rdname slice.xgb.DMatrix
+#' @rdname xgb.slice.DMatrix
 #' @export
 `[.xgb.DMatrix` <- function(object, idxset, colset = NULL) {
-  slice(object, idxset)
+  xgb.slice.DMatrix(object, idxset)
 }
 
 
diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R b/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
index eb0495631d6e..29bddb57f3e2 100644
--- a/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.cv.R
@@ -197,12 +197,12 @@ xgb.cv <- function(params = list(), data, nrounds, nfold, label = NULL, missing
     nthread = params$nthread
   )
   bst_folds <- lapply(seq_along(folds), function(k) {
-    dtest  <- slice(dall, folds[[k]])
+    dtest  <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dall, folds[[k]])
     # code originally contributed by @RolandASc on stackoverflow
     if (is.null(train_folds))
-       dtrain <- slice(dall, unlist(folds[-k]))
+       dtrain <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dall, unlist(folds[-k]))
     else
-       dtrain <- slice(dall, train_folds[[k]])
+       dtrain <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dall, train_folds[[k]])
     bst <- xgb.Booster(
       params = params,
       cachelist = list(dtrain, dtest),
diff --git a/R-package/man/slice.xgb.DMatrix.Rd b/R-package/man/xgb.slice.DMatrix.Rd
similarity index 84%
rename from R-package/man/slice.xgb.DMatrix.Rd
rename to R-package/man/xgb.slice.DMatrix.Rd
index a2dfb699bb0f..c9695996b66f 100644
--- a/R-package/man/slice.xgb.DMatrix.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/xgb.slice.DMatrix.Rd
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
 % Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 % Please edit documentation in R/xgb.DMatrix.R
-\name{slice}
-\alias{slice}
-\alias{slice.xgb.DMatrix}
+\name{xgb.slice.DMatrix}
+\alias{xgb.slice.DMatrix}
 \alias{[.xgb.DMatrix}
 \title{Get a new DMatrix containing the specified rows of
 original xgb.DMatrix object}
 \usage{
-slice(object, idxset)
-
-\method{slice}{xgb.DMatrix}(object, idxset)
+xgb.slice.DMatrix(object, idxset)
 
 \method{[}{xgb.DMatrix}(object, idxset, colset = NULL)
 }
@@ -28,7 +25,7 @@ original xgb.DMatrix object
 data(agaricus.train, package='xgboost')
 dtrain <- with(agaricus.train, xgb.DMatrix(data, label = label, nthread = 2))
 
-dsub <- slice(dtrain, 1:42)
+dsub <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dtrain, 1:42)
 labels1 <- getinfo(dsub, 'label')
 dsub <- dtrain[1:42, ]
 labels2 <- getinfo(dsub, 'label')
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dmatrix.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dmatrix.R
index 65374240df00..452b6060620c 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dmatrix.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_dmatrix.R
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ test_that("xgb.DMatrix: getinfo & setinfo", {
 test_that("xgb.DMatrix: slice, dim", {
   dtest <- xgb.DMatrix(test_data, label = test_label, nthread = n_threads)
   expect_equal(dim(dtest), dim(test_data))
-  dsub1 <- slice(dtest, 1:42)
+  dsub1 <- xgb.slice.DMatrix(dtest, 1:42)
   expect_equal(nrow(dsub1), 42)
   expect_equal(ncol(dsub1), ncol(test_data))
 
@@ -182,12 +182,12 @@ test_that("xgb.DMatrix: slice, trailing empty rows", {
   dtrain <- xgb.DMatrix(
     data = train_data, label = train_label, nthread = n_threads
   )
-  slice(dtrain, 6513L)
+  xgb.slice.DMatrix(dtrain, 6513L)
   train_data[6513, ] <- 0
   dtrain <- xgb.DMatrix(
     data = train_data, label = train_label, nthread = n_threads
   )
-  slice(dtrain, 6513L)
+  xgb.slice.DMatrix(dtrain, 6513L)
   expect_equal(nrow(dtrain), 6513)
 })