diff --git a/src/locking/lock_driver.h b/src/locking/lock_driver.h
index ae30abda7d..7c8f744be3 100644
--- a/src/locking/lock_driver.h
+++ b/src/locking/lock_driver.h
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ struct _virLockManagerParam {
 /**
  * virLockDriverInit:
  * @version: the libvirt requested plugin ABI version
- * @configFile: path to config file
  * @flags: the libvirt requested plugin optional extras
  *
  * Allow the plugin to validate the libvirt requested
@@ -132,9 +131,6 @@ struct _virLockManagerParam {
  * to block its use in versions of libvirtd which are
  * too old to support key features.
  *
- * The @configFile variable points to config file that the driver
- * should load. If NULL, no config file should be loaded.
- *
  * NB: A plugin may be loaded multiple times, for different
  * libvirt drivers (eg QEMU, LXC, UML)
  *
diff --git a/src/locking/lock_driver_lockd.c b/src/locking/lock_driver_lockd.c
index 0c672b05b1..85cdcf97be 100644
--- a/src/locking/lock_driver_lockd.c
+++ b/src/locking/lock_driver_lockd.c
@@ -371,10 +371,8 @@ static int virLockManagerLockDaemonInit(unsigned int version,
     driver->requireLeaseForDisks = true;
     driver->autoDiskLease = true;
 
-    if (configFile &&
-        virLockManagerLockDaemonLoadConfig(configFile) < 0) {
+    if (virLockManagerLockDaemonLoadConfig(configFile) < 0)
         goto error;
-    }
 
     if (driver->autoDiskLease) {
         if (driver->fileLockSpaceDir &&
diff --git a/src/locking/lock_driver_sanlock.c b/src/locking/lock_driver_sanlock.c
index 3ad0dc9bed..b10d8197c5 100644
--- a/src/locking/lock_driver_sanlock.c
+++ b/src/locking/lock_driver_sanlock.c
@@ -446,10 +446,8 @@ static int virLockManagerSanlockInit(unsigned int version,
         goto error;
     }
 
-    if (configFile &&
-        virLockManagerSanlockLoadConfig(driver, configFile) < 0) {
+    if (virLockManagerSanlockLoadConfig(driver, configFile) < 0)
         goto error;
-    }
 
     if (driver->autoDiskLease && !driver->hostID) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
diff --git a/src/locking/lock_manager.c b/src/locking/lock_manager.c
index 9067f5a01a..d421b6acfc 100644
--- a/src/locking/lock_manager.c
+++ b/src/locking/lock_manager.c
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ static void virLockManagerLogParams(size_t nparams,
 /**
  * virLockManagerPluginNew:
  * @name: the name of the plugin
- * @driverName: the hypervisor driver that loads the plugin
- * @configDir: path to dir where config files are stored
  * @flag: optional plugin flags
  *
  * Attempt to load the plugin $(libdir)/libvirt/lock-driver/@name.so
@@ -131,13 +129,11 @@ virLockManagerPluginPtr virLockManagerPluginNew(const char *name,
     char *configFile = NULL;
 
     VIR_DEBUG("name=%s driverName=%s configDir=%s flags=0x%x",
-              name, NULLSTR(driverName), NULLSTR(configDir), flags);
+              name, driverName, configDir, flags);
 
-    if (driverName && configDir &&
-        virAsprintf(&configFile, "%s/%s-%s.conf",
-                    configDir, driverName, name) < 0) {
+    if (virAsprintf(&configFile, "%s/%s-%s.conf",
+                    configDir, driverName, name) < 0)
         return NULL;
-    }
 
     if (STREQ(name, "nop")) {
         driver = &virLockDriverNop;