diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
index 67e5e63d00..8f166a436a 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ static int virLXCControllerSetupNBDDeviceFS(virDomainFSDefPtr fs)
     }
 
     if (virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(fs->src->path,
-                                  fs->format,
+                                  virStorageFileFormatTypeToString(fs->format),
                                   fs->readonly,
                                   &dev) < 0)
         return -1;
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ static int virLXCControllerSetupNBDDeviceDisk(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk)
     }
 
     if (virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(src,
-                                  format,
+                                  virStorageFileFormatTypeToString(format),
                                   disk->src->readonly,
                                   &dev) < 0)
         return -1;
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.c b/src/util/virfile.c
index f7283fa72f..3f4c6d1d0a 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virfile.c
@@ -879,14 +879,13 @@ virFileNBDLoadDriver(void)
 }
 
 int virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
-                              virStorageFileFormat fmt,
+                              const char *fmtstr,
                               bool readonly,
                               char **dev)
 {
     g_autofree char *nbddev = NULL;
     g_autofree char *qemunbd = NULL;
     g_autoptr(virCommand) cmd = NULL;
-    const char *fmtstr = NULL;
 
     if (!virFileNBDLoadDriver())
         return -1;
@@ -900,9 +899,6 @@ int virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (fmt > 0)
-        fmtstr = virStorageFileFormatTypeToString(fmt);
-
     cmd = virCommandNew(qemunbd);
 
     /* Explicitly not trying to cope with old qemu-nbd which
@@ -945,7 +941,7 @@ int virFileLoopDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
 }
 
 int virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
-                              virStorageFileFormat fmt G_GNUC_UNUSED,
+                              const char *fmtstr G_GNUC_UNUSED,
                               bool readonly G_GNUC_UNUSED,
                               char **dev G_GNUC_UNUSED)
 {
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.h b/src/util/virfile.h
index 0f197be73d..28dfe86445 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.h
+++ b/src/util/virfile.h
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "virbitmap.h"
-#include "virstoragefile.h"
 #include "virenum.h"
 
 typedef enum {
@@ -144,7 +143,7 @@ int virFileLoopDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
                                char **dev);
 
 int virFileNBDDeviceAssociate(const char *file,
-                              virStorageFileFormat fmt,
+                              const char *fmtstr,
                               bool readonly,
                               char **dev);