diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index ffaa367a1b..bf7c187435 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1987,11 +1987,6 @@ static int bdrv_fill_options(QDict **options, const char *filename,
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int bdrv_check_update_perm(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockReopenQueue *q,
-                                  uint64_t new_used_perm,
-                                  uint64_t new_shared_perm,
-                                  Error **errp);
-
 typedef struct BlockReopenQueueEntry {
      bool prepared;
      bool perms_checked;
@@ -2426,56 +2421,12 @@ static int bdrv_check_perm_common(GSList *list, BlockReopenQueue *q,
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int bdrv_check_perm(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockReopenQueue *q,
-                           uint64_t cumulative_perms,
-                           uint64_t cumulative_shared_perms, Error **errp)
-{
-    g_autoptr(GSList) list = bdrv_topological_dfs(NULL, NULL, bs);
-    return bdrv_check_perm_common(list, q, true, cumulative_perms,
-                                  cumulative_shared_perms, NULL, errp);
-}
-
 static int bdrv_list_refresh_perms(GSList *list, BlockReopenQueue *q,
                                    Transaction *tran, Error **errp)
 {
     return bdrv_check_perm_common(list, q, false, 0, 0, tran, errp);
 }
 
-/*
- * Notifies drivers that after a previous bdrv_check_perm() call, the
- * permission update is not performed and any preparations made for it (e.g.
- * taken file locks) need to be undone.
- */
-static void bdrv_node_abort_perm_update(BlockDriverState *bs)
-{
-    BlockDriver *drv = bs->drv;
-    BdrvChild *c;
-
-    if (!drv) {
-        return;
-    }
-
-    bdrv_drv_set_perm_abort(bs);
-
-    QLIST_FOREACH(c, &bs->children, next) {
-        bdrv_child_set_perm_abort(c);
-    }
-}
-
-static void bdrv_list_abort_perm_update(GSList *list)
-{
-    for ( ; list; list = list->next) {
-        bdrv_node_abort_perm_update((BlockDriverState *)list->data);
-    }
-}
-
-__attribute__((unused))
-static void bdrv_abort_perm_update(BlockDriverState *bs)
-{
-    g_autoptr(GSList) list = bdrv_topological_dfs(NULL, NULL, bs);
-    return bdrv_list_abort_perm_update(list);
-}
-
 static void bdrv_node_set_perm(BlockDriverState *bs)
 {
     BlockDriver *drv = bs->drv;
@@ -2557,60 +2508,6 @@ char *bdrv_perm_names(uint64_t perm)
     return g_string_free(result, FALSE);
 }
 
-/*
- * Checks whether a new reference to @bs can be added if the new user requires
- * @new_used_perm/@new_shared_perm as its permissions. If @ignore_children is
- * set, the BdrvChild objects in this list are ignored in the calculations;
- * this allows checking permission updates for an existing reference.
- *
- * Needs to be followed by a call to either bdrv_set_perm() or
- * bdrv_abort_perm_update(). */
-__attribute__((unused))
-static int bdrv_check_update_perm(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockReopenQueue *q,
-                                  uint64_t new_used_perm,
-                                  uint64_t new_shared_perm,
-                                  Error **errp)
-{
-    BdrvChild *c;
-    uint64_t cumulative_perms = new_used_perm;
-    uint64_t cumulative_shared_perms = new_shared_perm;
-
-
-    /* There is no reason why anyone couldn't tolerate write_unchanged */
-    assert(new_shared_perm & BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED);
-
-    QLIST_FOREACH(c, &bs->parents, next_parent) {
-        if ((new_used_perm & c->shared_perm) != new_used_perm) {
-            char *user = bdrv_child_user_desc(c);
-            char *perm_names = bdrv_perm_names(new_used_perm & ~c->shared_perm);
-
-            error_setg(errp, "Conflicts with use by %s as '%s', which does not "
-                             "allow '%s' on %s",
-                       user, c->name, perm_names, bdrv_get_node_name(c->bs));
-            g_free(user);
-            g_free(perm_names);
-            return -EPERM;
-        }
-
-        if ((c->perm & new_shared_perm) != c->perm) {
-            char *user = bdrv_child_user_desc(c);
-            char *perm_names = bdrv_perm_names(c->perm & ~new_shared_perm);
-
-            error_setg(errp, "Conflicts with use by %s as '%s', which uses "
-                             "'%s' on %s",
-                       user, c->name, perm_names, bdrv_get_node_name(c->bs));
-            g_free(user);
-            g_free(perm_names);
-            return -EPERM;
-        }
-
-        cumulative_perms |= c->perm;
-        cumulative_shared_perms &= c->shared_perm;
-    }
-
-    return bdrv_check_perm(bs, q, cumulative_perms, cumulative_shared_perms,
-                           errp);
-}
 
 static int bdrv_refresh_perms(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
 {