diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 10346b5011..7b3ce415d8 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -2485,7 +2485,6 @@ char *bdrv_perm_names(uint64_t perm)
         { BLK_PERM_WRITE,           "write" },
         { BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED, "write unchanged" },
         { BLK_PERM_RESIZE,          "resize" },
-        { BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD,       "change children" },
         { 0, NULL }
     };
 
@@ -2601,8 +2600,7 @@ static void bdrv_default_perms_for_cow(BlockDriverState *bs, BdrvChild *c,
         shared = 0;
     }
 
-    shared |= BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD |
-              BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED;
+    shared |= BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED;
 
     if (bs->open_flags & BDRV_O_INACTIVE) {
         shared |= BLK_PERM_WRITE | BLK_PERM_RESIZE;
@@ -2720,7 +2718,6 @@ uint64_t bdrv_qapi_perm_to_blk_perm(BlockPermission qapi_perm)
         [BLOCK_PERMISSION_WRITE]            = BLK_PERM_WRITE,
         [BLOCK_PERMISSION_WRITE_UNCHANGED]  = BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED,
         [BLOCK_PERMISSION_RESIZE]           = BLK_PERM_RESIZE,
-        [BLOCK_PERMISSION_GRAPH_MOD]        = BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD,
     };
 
     QEMU_BUILD_BUG_ON(ARRAY_SIZE(permissions) != BLOCK_PERMISSION__MAX);
@@ -5546,8 +5543,6 @@ int bdrv_drop_intermediate(BlockDriverState *top, BlockDriverState *base,
     update_inherits_from = bdrv_inherits_from_recursive(base, explicit_top);
 
     /* success - we can delete the intermediate states, and link top->base */
-    /* TODO Check graph modification op blockers (BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD) once
-     * we've figured out how they should work. */
     if (!backing_file_str) {
         bdrv_refresh_filename(base);
         backing_file_str = base->filename;
diff --git a/block/commit.c b/block/commit.c
index 10cc5ff451..b1fc7b908b 100644
--- a/block/commit.c
+++ b/block/commit.c
@@ -370,7 +370,6 @@ void commit_start(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
     s->base = blk_new(s->common.job.aio_context,
                       base_perms,
                       BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ
-                      | BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD
                       | BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED);
     ret = blk_insert_bs(s->base, base, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
diff --git a/block/mirror.c b/block/mirror.c
index 959e3dfbd6..69b2c1c697 100644
--- a/block/mirror.c
+++ b/block/mirror.c
@@ -1139,10 +1139,7 @@ static void mirror_complete(Job *job, Error **errp)
         replace_aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(s->to_replace);
         aio_context_acquire(replace_aio_context);
 
-        /* TODO Translate this into permission system. Current definition of
-         * GRAPH_MOD would require to request it for the parents; they might
-         * not even be BlockDriverStates, however, so a BdrvChild can't address
-         * them. May need redefinition of GRAPH_MOD. */
+        /* TODO Translate this into child freeze system. */
         error_setg(&s->replace_blocker,
                    "block device is in use by block-job-complete");
         bdrv_op_block_all(s->to_replace, s->replace_blocker);
@@ -1666,7 +1663,7 @@ static BlockJob *mirror_start_job(
     s = block_job_create(job_id, driver, NULL, mirror_top_bs,
                          BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ,
                          BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED |
-                         BLK_PERM_WRITE | BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD, speed,
+                         BLK_PERM_WRITE, speed,
                          creation_flags, cb, opaque, errp);
     if (!s) {
         goto fail;
@@ -1710,9 +1707,7 @@ static BlockJob *mirror_start_job(
             target_perms |= BLK_PERM_RESIZE;
         }
 
-        target_shared_perms |= BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ
-                            |  BLK_PERM_WRITE
-                            |  BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD;
+        target_shared_perms |= BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_WRITE;
     } else if (bdrv_chain_contains(bs, bdrv_skip_filters(target))) {
         /*
          * We may want to allow this in the future, but it would
@@ -1723,10 +1718,6 @@ static BlockJob *mirror_start_job(
         goto fail;
     }
 
-    if (backing_mode != MIRROR_LEAVE_BACKING_CHAIN) {
-        target_perms |= BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD;
-    }
-
     s->target = blk_new(s->common.job.aio_context,
                         target_perms, target_shared_perms);
     ret = blk_insert_bs(s->target, target, errp);
diff --git a/hw/block/block.c b/hw/block/block.c
index d47ebf005a..25f45df723 100644
--- a/hw/block/block.c
+++ b/hw/block/block.c
@@ -171,8 +171,7 @@ bool blkconf_apply_backend_options(BlockConf *conf, bool readonly,
         perm |= BLK_PERM_WRITE;
     }
 
-    shared_perm = BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED |
-                  BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD;
+    shared_perm = BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ | BLK_PERM_WRITE_UNCHANGED;
     if (resizable) {
         shared_perm |= BLK_PERM_RESIZE;
     }
diff --git a/include/block/block.h b/include/block/block.h
index e5dd22b034..9d4050220b 100644
--- a/include/block/block.h
+++ b/include/block/block.h
@@ -269,12 +269,13 @@ enum {
     BLK_PERM_RESIZE             = 0x08,
 
     /**
-     * This permission is required to change the node that this BdrvChild
-     * points to.
+     * There was a now-removed bit BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD, with value of 0x10. QEMU
+     * 6.1 and earlier may still lock the corresponding byte in block/file-posix
+     * locking.  So, implementing some new permission should be very careful to
+     * not interfere with this old unused thing.
      */
-    BLK_PERM_GRAPH_MOD          = 0x10,
 
-    BLK_PERM_ALL                = 0x1f,
+    BLK_PERM_ALL                = 0x0f,
 
     DEFAULT_PERM_PASSTHROUGH    = BLK_PERM_CONSISTENT_READ
                                  | BLK_PERM_WRITE
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index bd0b285245..9a5a3641d0 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -1878,14 +1878,11 @@
 #
 # @resize: This permission is required to change the size of a block node.
 #
-# @graph-mod: This permission is required to change the node that this
-#             BdrvChild points to.
-#
 # Since: 4.0
 ##
 { 'enum': 'BlockPermission',
-  'data': [ 'consistent-read', 'write', 'write-unchanged', 'resize',
-            'graph-mod' ] }
+  'data': [ 'consistent-read', 'write', 'write-unchanged', 'resize' ] }
+
 ##
 # @XDbgBlockGraphEdge:
 #
diff --git a/scripts/render_block_graph.py b/scripts/render_block_graph.py
index da6acf050d..42288a3cfb 100755
--- a/scripts/render_block_graph.py
+++ b/scripts/render_block_graph.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ def perm(arr):
     s = 'w' if 'write' in arr else '_'
     s += 'r' if 'consistent-read' in arr else '_'
     s += 'u' if 'write-unchanged' in arr else '_'
-    s += 'g' if 'graph-mod' in arr else '_'
     s += 's' if 'resize' in arr else '_'
     return s
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/273.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/273.out
index 4e840b6730..6a74a8138b 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/273.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/273.out
@@ -204,7 +204,6 @@ Testing: -blockdev file,node-name=base,filename=TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT.base -blockdev
                 "name": "file",
                 "parent": 5,
                 "shared-perm": [
-                    "graph-mod",
                     "write-unchanged",
                     "consistent-read"
                 ],
@@ -219,7 +218,6 @@ Testing: -blockdev file,node-name=base,filename=TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT.base -blockdev
                 "name": "backing",
                 "parent": 5,
                 "shared-perm": [
-                    "graph-mod",
                     "resize",
                     "write-unchanged",
                     "write",
@@ -233,7 +231,6 @@ Testing: -blockdev file,node-name=base,filename=TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT.base -blockdev
                 "name": "file",
                 "parent": 3,
                 "shared-perm": [
-                    "graph-mod",
                     "write-unchanged",
                     "consistent-read"
                 ],
@@ -246,7 +243,6 @@ Testing: -blockdev file,node-name=base,filename=TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT.base -blockdev
                 "name": "backing",
                 "parent": 3,
                 "shared-perm": [
-                    "graph-mod",
                     "resize",
                     "write-unchanged",
                     "write",