diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index a2ecdc39284b1696371308df92280ecdd7be1d3c..5550aa7157353e3b604d623a28e6b55778eb777e 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -2475,12 +2475,6 @@ virStorageSourceCopy(const virStorageSource *src,
             return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (src->externalDataStore) {
-        if (!(def->externalDataStore = virStorageSourceCopy(src->externalDataStore,
-                                                            true)))
-            return NULL;
-    }
-
     /* ssh config passthrough for libguestfs */
     def->ssh_host_key_check_disabled = src->ssh_host_key_check_disabled;
     def->ssh_user = g_strdup(src->ssh_user);
@@ -2712,9 +2706,6 @@ virStorageSourceClear(virStorageSourcePtr def)
 
     virStorageSourceSliceFree(def->sliceStorage);
 
-    virObjectUnref(def->externalDataStore);
-    def->externalDataStore = NULL;
-
     virStorageNetHostDefFree(def->nhosts, def->hosts);
     virStorageAuthDefFree(def->auth);
     virObjectUnref(def->privateData);
@@ -4125,24 +4116,6 @@ virStorageSourceNewFromBacking(virStorageSourcePtr parent,
 }
 
 
-static int
-virStorageSourceNewFromExternalData(virStorageSourcePtr parent,
-                                    virStorageSourcePtr *externalDataStore)
-{
-    int rc;
-
-    if ((rc = virStorageSourceNewFromChild(parent,
-                                           parent->externalDataStoreRaw,
-                                           externalDataStore)) < 0)
-        return rc;
-
-    /* qcow2 data_file can only be raw */
-    (*externalDataStore)->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW;
-    (*externalDataStore)->readonly = parent->readonly;
-    return rc;
-}
-
-
 /**
  * @src: disk source definition structure
  * @fd: file descriptor
@@ -5369,20 +5342,6 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(virStorageSourcePtr src,
             return -1;
     }
 
-    if (src->externalDataStoreRaw) {
-        g_autoptr(virStorageSource) externalDataStore = NULL;
-
-        if ((rv = virStorageSourceNewFromExternalData(src,
-                                                      &externalDataStore)) < 0)
-            return -1;
-
-        /* the file would not be usable for VM usage */
-        if (rv == 1)
-            return 0;
-
-        src->externalDataStore = g_steal_pointer(&externalDataStore);
-    }
-
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.h b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
index 7939c09cd521ce4184ac2543644a221d411ec799..8fe8e7c822bb166ee83b029574436df2ad0fadd7 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.h
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
@@ -334,9 +334,6 @@ struct _virStorageSource {
     /* backing chain of the storage source */
     virStorageSourcePtr backingStore;
 
-    /* external data store storage source */
-    virStorageSourcePtr externalDataStore;
-
     /* metadata for storage driver access to remote and local volumes */
     virStorageDriverDataPtr drv;