diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index e74264d80b..ed4c819f04 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -335,10 +335,16 @@ static BlockDriver *find_image_format(const char *filename)
 int bdrv_file_open(BlockDriverState **pbs, const char *filename, int flags)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs;
+    BlockDriver *drv;
     int ret;
 
+    drv = find_protocol(filename);
+    if (!drv) {
+        return -ENOENT;
+    }
+
     bs = bdrv_new("");
-    ret = bdrv_open(bs, filename, flags | BDRV_O_FILE, NULL);
+    ret = bdrv_open(bs, filename, flags, drv);
     if (ret < 0) {
         bdrv_delete(bs);
         return ret;
@@ -416,9 +422,8 @@ int bdrv_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags,
     }
 
     pstrcpy(bs->filename, sizeof(bs->filename), filename);
-    if (flags & BDRV_O_FILE) {
-        drv = find_protocol(filename);
-    } else if (!drv) {
+
+    if (!drv) {
         drv = find_hdev_driver(filename);
         if (!drv) {
             drv = find_image_format(filename);
@@ -450,14 +455,12 @@ int bdrv_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags,
      * Clear flags that are internal to the block layer before opening the
      * image.
      */
-    open_flags = flags & ~(BDRV_O_FILE | BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT | BDRV_O_NO_BACKING);
+    open_flags = flags & ~(BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT | BDRV_O_NO_BACKING);
 
     /*
      * Snapshots should be writeable.
-     *
-     * XXX(hch): and what is the point of a snapshot during a read-only open?
      */
-    if (!(flags & BDRV_O_FILE) && bs->is_temporary) {
+    if (bs->is_temporary) {
         open_flags |= BDRV_O_RDWR;
     }
 
diff --git a/block.h b/block.h
index c5900c8936..4a57dd5961 100644
--- a/block.h
+++ b/block.h
@@ -29,10 +29,6 @@ typedef struct QEMUSnapshotInfo {
 
 #define BDRV_O_RDWR        0x0002
 #define BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT    0x0008 /* open the file read only and save writes in a snapshot */
-#define BDRV_O_FILE        0x0010 /* open as a raw file (do not try to
-                                     use a disk image format on top of
-                                     it (default for
-                                     bdrv_file_open()) */
 #define BDRV_O_NOCACHE     0x0020 /* do not use the host page cache */
 #define BDRV_O_CACHE_WB    0x0040 /* use write-back caching */
 #define BDRV_O_NATIVE_AIO  0x0080 /* use native AIO instead of the thread pool */
diff --git a/qemu-io.c b/qemu-io.c
index ffb581734b..8517b909c7 100644
--- a/qemu-io.c
+++ b/qemu-io.c
@@ -1276,23 +1276,23 @@ static int openfile(char *name, int flags, int growable)
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	bs = bdrv_new("hda");
-	if (!bs)
-		return 1;
-
 	if (growable) {
-		flags |= BDRV_O_FILE;
+		if (bdrv_file_open(&bs, name, flags)) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open device %s\n", progname, name);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	} else {
+		bs = bdrv_new("hda");
+		if (!bs)
+			return 1;
+
+		if (bdrv_open(bs, name, flags, NULL) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open device %s\n", progname, name);
+			bs = NULL;
+			return 1;
+		}
 	}
 
-	if (bdrv_open(bs, name, flags, NULL) < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open device %s\n", progname, name);
-		bs = NULL;
-		return 1;
-	}
-
-	if (growable) {
-		bs->growable = 1;
-	}
 	return 0;
 }