diff --git a/block.h b/block.h
index 1aec4531ba..ecf66c52ab 100644
--- a/block.h
+++ b/block.h
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ typedef struct QEMUSnapshotInfo {
 } QEMUSnapshotInfo;
 
 #define BDRV_O_RDWR        0x0002
-#define BDRV_O_CREAT       0x0004 /* create an empty file */
 #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
diff --git a/block/nbd.c b/block/nbd.c
index 47d4778999..7bac38d086 100644
--- a/block/nbd.c
+++ b/block/nbd.c
@@ -49,9 +49,6 @@ static int nbd_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char* filename, int flags)
     size_t blocksize;
     int ret;
 
-    if ((flags & BDRV_O_CREAT))
-        return -EINVAL;
-
     if (!strstart(filename, "nbd:", &host))
         return -EINVAL;
 
diff --git a/block/raw-posix.c b/block/raw-posix.c
index 52bbcdae76..325d2265f5 100644
--- a/block/raw-posix.c
+++ b/block/raw-posix.c
@@ -205,13 +205,9 @@ out_close:
 static int raw_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags)
 {
     BDRVRawState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int open_flags = 0;
 
     s->type = FTYPE_FILE;
-    if (flags & BDRV_O_CREAT)
-        open_flags = O_CREAT | O_TRUNC;
-
-    return raw_open_common(bs, filename, flags, open_flags);
+    return raw_open_common(bs, filename, flags, 0);
 }
 
 /* XXX: use host sector size if necessary with:
diff --git a/block/raw-win32.c b/block/raw-win32.c
index 01a6d2519e..526764f62f 100644
--- a/block/raw-win32.c
+++ b/block/raw-win32.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static int set_sparse(int fd)
 static int raw_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags)
 {
     BDRVRawState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int access_flags, create_flags;
+    int access_flags;
     DWORD overlapped;
 
     s->type = FTYPE_FILE;
@@ -86,11 +86,7 @@ static int raw_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags)
     } else {
         access_flags = GENERIC_READ;
     }
-    if (flags & BDRV_O_CREAT) {
-        create_flags = CREATE_ALWAYS;
-    } else {
-        create_flags = OPEN_EXISTING;
-    }
+
     overlapped = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL;
     if ((flags & BDRV_O_NOCACHE))
         overlapped |= FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING | FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH;
@@ -98,7 +94,7 @@ static int raw_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, int flags)
         overlapped |= FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH;
     s->hfile = CreateFile(filename, access_flags,
                           FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL,
-                          create_flags, overlapped, NULL);
+                          OPEN_EXISTING, overlapped, NULL);
     if (s->hfile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
         int err = GetLastError();
 
diff --git a/qemu-io.c b/qemu-io.c
index b159bc9c32..b2f2f5a9a9 100644
--- a/qemu-io.c
+++ b/qemu-io.c
@@ -1307,7 +1307,6 @@ open_help(void)
 " 'open -Cn /tmp/data' - creates/opens data file read-write and uncached\n"
 "\n"
 " Opens a file for subsequent use by all of the other qemu-io commands.\n"
-" -C, -- create new file if it doesn't exist\n"
 " -r, -- open file read-only\n"
 " -s, -- use snapshot file\n"
 " -n, -- disable host cache\n"
@@ -1337,7 +1336,7 @@ open_f(int argc, char **argv)
 	int growable = 0;
 	int c;
 
-	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "snCrg")) != EOF) {
+	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "snrg")) != EOF) {
 		switch (c) {
 		case 's':
 			flags |= BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT;
@@ -1345,9 +1344,6 @@ open_f(int argc, char **argv)
 		case 'n':
 			flags |= BDRV_O_NOCACHE;
 			break;
-		case 'C':
-			flags |= BDRV_O_CREAT;
-			break;
 		case 'r':
 			readonly = 1;
 			break;
@@ -1395,10 +1391,9 @@ init_check_command(
 static void usage(const char *name)
 {
 	printf(
-"Usage: %s [-h] [-V] [-Crsnm] [-c cmd] ... [file]\n"
+"Usage: %s [-h] [-V] [-rsnm] [-c cmd] ... [file]\n"
 "QEMU Disk exerciser\n"
 "\n"
-"  -C, --create         create new file if it doesn't exist\n"
 "  -c, --cmd            command to execute\n"
 "  -r, --read-only      export read-only\n"
 "  -s, --snapshot       use snapshot file\n"
@@ -1417,13 +1412,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	int readonly = 0;
 	int growable = 0;
-	const char *sopt = "hVc:Crsnmgk";
+	const char *sopt = "hVc:rsnmgk";
         const struct option lopt[] = {
 		{ "help", 0, NULL, 'h' },
 		{ "version", 0, NULL, 'V' },
 		{ "offset", 1, NULL, 'o' },
 		{ "cmd", 1, NULL, 'c' },
-		{ "create", 0, NULL, 'C' },
 		{ "read-only", 0, NULL, 'r' },
 		{ "snapshot", 0, NULL, 's' },
 		{ "nocache", 0, NULL, 'n' },
@@ -1449,9 +1443,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		case 'c':
 			add_user_command(optarg);
 			break;
-		case 'C':
-			flags |= BDRV_O_CREAT;
-			break;
 		case 'r':
 			readonly = 1;
 			break;