diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index cffd3d638c..516b3692b2 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -3119,7 +3119,6 @@ virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON;
 virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayBitmap;
 virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayNumbered;
 virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayObjectsStr;
-virQEMUBuildDriveCommandlineFromJSON;
 
 
 # util/virrandom.h
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index b6a8a391a8..22b0f85fe3 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -1252,10 +1252,9 @@ qemuBuildDriveSourceStr(virDomainDiskDef *disk,
         if (qemuBuildDriveSourcePR(buf, disk) < 0)
             return -1;
     } else {
-        if (!(source = virQEMUBuildDriveCommandlineFromJSON(srcprops)))
+        if (virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON(srcprops, buf, NULL,
+                                        virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayNumbered) < 0)
             return -1;
-
-        virBufferAdd(buf, source, -1);
     }
     virBufferAddLit(buf, ",");
 
@@ -4533,16 +4532,18 @@ static char *
 qemuBuildSCSIiSCSIHostdevDrvStr(virDomainHostdevDef *dev)
 {
     g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
-    g_autofree char *netsource = NULL;
     g_autoptr(virJSONValue) srcprops = NULL;
     virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSI *scsisrc = &dev->source.subsys.u.scsi;
     virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSIiSCSI *iscsisrc = &scsisrc->u.iscsi;
 
     if (!(srcprops = qemuDiskSourceGetProps(iscsisrc->src)))
         return NULL;
-    if (!(netsource = virQEMUBuildDriveCommandlineFromJSON(srcprops)))
+
+    if (virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON(srcprops, &buf, NULL,
+                                    virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayNumbered) < 0)
         return NULL;
-    virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "%s,if=none,format=raw", netsource);
+
+    virBufferAddLit(&buf, ",if=none,format=raw");
 
     return virBufferContentAndReset(&buf);
 }
diff --git a/src/util/virqemu.c b/src/util/virqemu.c
index 8119643431..e31451dff4 100644
--- a/src/util/virqemu.c
+++ b/src/util/virqemu.c
@@ -283,19 +283,6 @@ virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON(virJSONValue *value,
 }
 
 
-char *
-virQEMUBuildDriveCommandlineFromJSON(virJSONValue *srcdef)
-{
-    g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
-
-    if (virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON(srcdef, &buf, NULL,
-                                    virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayNumbered) < 0)
-        return NULL;
-
-    return virBufferContentAndReset(&buf);
-}
-
-
 /**
  * virQEMUBuildBufferEscapeComma:
  * @buf: buffer to append the escaped string
diff --git a/src/util/virqemu.h b/src/util/virqemu.h
index 5098ed7653..472f24de53 100644
--- a/src/util/virqemu.h
+++ b/src/util/virqemu.h
@@ -48,6 +48,4 @@ int virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSON(virJSONValue *value,
                                 const char *skipKey,
                                 virQEMUBuildCommandLineJSONArrayFormatFunc array);
 
-char *virQEMUBuildDriveCommandlineFromJSON(virJSONValue *src);
-
 void virQEMUBuildBufferEscapeComma(virBuffer *buf, const char *str);