diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-posix-acl.c b/hw/9pfs/9p-posix-acl.c
index 0154e2a7605fbf6f5487a4d66e228f74e0826f42..bbf89064f7aedd79ea4741b509094337cd03759c 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-posix-acl.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-posix-acl.c
@@ -58,10 +58,8 @@ static int mp_pacl_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
                                const char *path, const char *name)
 {
     int ret;
-    char *buffer;
 
-    buffer = rpath(ctx, path);
-    ret  = lremovexattr(buffer, MAP_ACL_ACCESS);
+    ret = local_removexattr_nofollow(ctx, path, MAP_ACL_ACCESS);
     if (ret == -1 && errno == ENODATA) {
         /*
          * We don't get ENODATA error when trying to remove a
@@ -71,7 +69,6 @@ static int mp_pacl_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
         errno = 0;
         ret = 0;
     }
-    g_free(buffer);
     return ret;
 }
 
@@ -111,10 +108,8 @@ static int mp_dacl_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
                                const char *path, const char *name)
 {
     int ret;
-    char *buffer;
 
-    buffer = rpath(ctx, path);
-    ret  = lremovexattr(buffer, MAP_ACL_DEFAULT);
+    ret = local_removexattr_nofollow(ctx, path, MAP_ACL_DEFAULT);
     if (ret == -1 && errno == ENODATA) {
         /*
          * We don't get ENODATA error when trying to remove a
@@ -124,7 +119,6 @@ static int mp_dacl_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
         errno = 0;
         ret = 0;
     }
-    g_free(buffer);
     return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr-user.c b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr-user.c
index 1840a5db66f3f92b9ac8b36ce05b313d3e34888f..2c90817b75a6b2c29bfd9711bdfcdb1ed5532abf 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr-user.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr-user.c
@@ -81,9 +81,6 @@ static int mp_user_setxattr(FsContext *ctx, const char *path, const char *name,
 static int mp_user_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
                                const char *path, const char *name)
 {
-    char *buffer;
-    int ret;
-
     if (strncmp(name, "user.virtfs.", 12) == 0) {
         /*
          * Don't allow fetch of user.virtfs namesapce
@@ -92,10 +89,7 @@ static int mp_user_removexattr(FsContext *ctx,
         errno = EACCES;
         return -1;
     }
-    buffer = rpath(ctx, path);
-    ret = lremovexattr(buffer, name);
-    g_free(buffer);
-    return ret;
+    return local_removexattr_nofollow(ctx, path, name);
 }
 
 XattrOperations mapped_user_xattr = {
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.c b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.c
index a0167dd4d898119a5937c0104da4b162ca7166a3..eec160b3c2ac0dce27c92237d50f746ca2d284fe 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.c
@@ -234,17 +234,43 @@ int pt_setxattr(FsContext *ctx, const char *path, const char *name, void *value,
     return local_setxattr_nofollow(ctx, path, name, value, size, flags);
 }
 
-int pt_removexattr(FsContext *ctx, const char *path, const char *name)
+static ssize_t fremovexattrat_nofollow(int dirfd, const char *filename,
+                                       const char *name)
 {
-    char *buffer;
+    char *proc_path = g_strdup_printf("/proc/self/fd/%d/%s", dirfd, filename);
     int ret;
 
-    buffer = rpath(ctx, path);
-    ret = lremovexattr(path, name);
-    g_free(buffer);
+    ret = lremovexattr(proc_path, name);
+    g_free(proc_path);
     return ret;
 }
 
+ssize_t local_removexattr_nofollow(FsContext *ctx, const char *path,
+                                   const char *name)
+{
+    char *dirpath = g_path_get_dirname(path);
+    char *filename = g_path_get_basename(path);
+    int dirfd;
+    ssize_t ret = -1;
+
+    dirfd = local_opendir_nofollow(ctx, dirpath);
+    if (dirfd == -1) {
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    ret = fremovexattrat_nofollow(dirfd, filename, name);
+    close_preserve_errno(dirfd);
+out:
+    g_free(dirpath);
+    g_free(filename);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+int pt_removexattr(FsContext *ctx, const char *path, const char *name)
+{
+    return local_removexattr_nofollow(ctx, path, name);
+}
+
 ssize_t notsup_getxattr(FsContext *ctx, const char *path, const char *name,
                         void *value, size_t size)
 {
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.h b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.h
index 7558970d8511ab0002669264d3423e9ba398a7a7..0d83996575e1f1b217ad275da2b7f272b4f8a40d 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.h
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-xattr.h
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ ssize_t local_getxattr_nofollow(FsContext *ctx, const char *path,
 ssize_t local_setxattr_nofollow(FsContext *ctx, const char *path,
                                 const char *name, void *value, size_t size,
                                 int flags);
+ssize_t local_removexattr_nofollow(FsContext *ctx, const char *path,
+                                   const char *name);
 
 extern XattrOperations mapped_user_xattr;
 extern XattrOperations passthrough_user_xattr;