diff --git a/drivers/vfio/mdev/vfio_mdev.c b/drivers/vfio/mdev/vfio_mdev.c
index e12196ffd487..7a9883048216 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/mdev/vfio_mdev.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/mdev/vfio_mdev.c
@@ -37,26 +37,6 @@ static void vfio_mdev_close_device(struct vfio_device *core_vdev)
 		parent->ops->close_device(mdev);
 }
 
-static int vfio_mdev_open(struct vfio_device *core_vdev)
-{
-	struct mdev_device *mdev = to_mdev_device(core_vdev->dev);
-	struct mdev_parent *parent = mdev->type->parent;
-
-	if (unlikely(!parent->ops->open))
-		return 0;
-
-	return parent->ops->open(mdev);
-}
-
-static void vfio_mdev_release(struct vfio_device *core_vdev)
-{
-	struct mdev_device *mdev = to_mdev_device(core_vdev->dev);
-	struct mdev_parent *parent = mdev->type->parent;
-
-	if (likely(parent->ops->release))
-		parent->ops->release(mdev);
-}
-
 static long vfio_mdev_unlocked_ioctl(struct vfio_device *core_vdev,
 				     unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
 {
@@ -122,8 +102,6 @@ static const struct vfio_device_ops vfio_mdev_dev_ops = {
 	.name		= "vfio-mdev",
 	.open_device	= vfio_mdev_open_device,
 	.close_device	= vfio_mdev_close_device,
-	.open		= vfio_mdev_open,
-	.release	= vfio_mdev_release,
 	.ioctl		= vfio_mdev_unlocked_ioctl,
 	.read		= vfio_mdev_read,
 	.write		= vfio_mdev_write,
diff --git a/drivers/vfio/vfio.c b/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
index 9cc17768c425..3c034fe14ccb 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/vfio.c
@@ -1470,19 +1470,13 @@ static int vfio_group_get_device_fd(struct vfio_group *group, char *buf)
 	}
 	mutex_unlock(&device->dev_set->lock);
 
-	if (device->ops->open) {
-		ret = device->ops->open(device);
-		if (ret)
-			goto err_close_device;
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * We can't use anon_inode_getfd() because we need to modify
 	 * the f_mode flags directly to allow more than just ioctls
 	 */
 	fdno = ret = get_unused_fd_flags(O_CLOEXEC);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		goto err_release;
+		goto err_close_device;
 
 	filep = anon_inode_getfile("[vfio-device]", &vfio_device_fops,
 				   device, O_RDWR);
@@ -1509,9 +1503,6 @@ static int vfio_group_get_device_fd(struct vfio_group *group, char *buf)
 
 err_fd:
 	put_unused_fd(fdno);
-err_release:
-	if (device->ops->release)
-		device->ops->release(device);
 err_close_device:
 	mutex_lock(&device->dev_set->lock);
 	if (device->open_count == 1 && device->ops->close_device)
@@ -1659,9 +1650,6 @@ static int vfio_device_fops_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *filep)
 {
 	struct vfio_device *device = filep->private_data;
 
-	if (device->ops->release)
-		device->ops->release(device);
-
 	mutex_lock(&device->dev_set->lock);
 	if (!--device->open_count && device->ops->close_device)
 		device->ops->close_device(device);
diff --git a/include/linux/mdev.h b/include/linux/mdev.h
index cb5b7ed1d7c3..68427e8fadeb 100644
--- a/include/linux/mdev.h
+++ b/include/linux/mdev.h
@@ -72,11 +72,6 @@ struct device *mtype_get_parent_dev(struct mdev_type *mtype);
  *			@mdev: mdev_device device structure which is being
  *			       destroyed
  *			Returns integer: success (0) or error (< 0)
- * @open:		Open mediated device.
- *			@mdev: mediated device.
- *			Returns integer: success (0) or error (< 0)
- * @release:		release mediated device
- *			@mdev: mediated device.
  * @read:		Read emulation callback
  *			@mdev: mediated device structure
  *			@buf: read buffer
@@ -113,8 +108,6 @@ struct mdev_parent_ops {
 	int     (*remove)(struct mdev_device *mdev);
 	int     (*open_device)(struct mdev_device *mdev);
 	void    (*close_device)(struct mdev_device *mdev);
-	int     (*open)(struct mdev_device *mdev);
-	void    (*release)(struct mdev_device *mdev);
 	ssize_t (*read)(struct mdev_device *mdev, char __user *buf,
 			size_t count, loff_t *ppos);
 	ssize_t (*write)(struct mdev_device *mdev, const char __user *buf,
diff --git a/include/linux/vfio.h b/include/linux/vfio.h
index f0e6a72875e4..b53a9557884a 100644
--- a/include/linux/vfio.h
+++ b/include/linux/vfio.h
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ struct vfio_device {
  *
  * @open_device: Called when the first file descriptor is opened for this device
  * @close_device: Opposite of open_device
- * @open: Called when userspace creates new file descriptor for device
- * @release: Called when userspace releases file descriptor for device
  * @read: Perform read(2) on device file descriptor
  * @write: Perform write(2) on device file descriptor
  * @ioctl: Perform ioctl(2) on device file descriptor, supporting VFIO_DEVICE_*
@@ -62,8 +60,6 @@ struct vfio_device_ops {
 	char	*name;
 	int	(*open_device)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
 	void	(*close_device)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
-	int	(*open)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
-	void	(*release)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
 	ssize_t	(*read)(struct vfio_device *vdev, char __user *buf,
 			size_t count, loff_t *ppos);
 	ssize_t	(*write)(struct vfio_device *vdev, const char __user *buf,