diff --git a/block/dirty-bitmap.c b/block/dirty-bitmap.c
index 6065db8094..4bbb251b2c 100644
--- a/block/dirty-bitmap.c
+++ b/block/dirty-bitmap.c
@@ -839,18 +839,6 @@ bool bdrv_dirty_bitmap_inconsistent(const BdrvDirtyBitmap *bitmap)
     return bitmap->inconsistent;
 }
 
-bool bdrv_has_changed_persistent_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs)
-{
-    BdrvDirtyBitmap *bm;
-    QLIST_FOREACH(bm, &bs->dirty_bitmaps, list) {
-        if (bm->persistent && !bm->readonly && !bm->skip_store) {
-            return true;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return false;
-}
-
 BdrvDirtyBitmap *bdrv_dirty_bitmap_first(BlockDriverState *bs)
 {
     return QLIST_FIRST(&bs->dirty_bitmaps);
diff --git a/block/qcow2-bitmap.c b/block/qcow2-bitmap.c
index 99812b418b..6dfc083548 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-bitmap.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-bitmap.c
@@ -1464,16 +1464,7 @@ void qcow2_store_persistent_dirty_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
     Qcow2Bitmap *bm;
     QSIMPLEQ_HEAD(, Qcow2BitmapTable) drop_tables;
     Qcow2BitmapTable *tb, *tb_next;
-
-    if (!bdrv_has_changed_persistent_bitmaps(bs)) {
-        /* nothing to do */
-        return;
-    }
-
-    if (!can_write(bs)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "No write access");
-        return;
-    }
+    bool need_write = false;
 
     QSIMPLEQ_INIT(&drop_tables);
 
@@ -1499,6 +1490,8 @@ void qcow2_store_persistent_dirty_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
             continue;
         }
 
+        need_write = true;
+
         if (check_constraints_on_bitmap(bs, name, granularity, errp) < 0) {
             error_prepend(errp, "Bitmap '%s' doesn't satisfy the constraints: ",
                           name);
@@ -1537,6 +1530,15 @@ void qcow2_store_persistent_dirty_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
         bm->dirty_bitmap = bitmap;
     }
 
+    if (!need_write) {
+        goto success;
+    }
+
+    if (!can_write(bs)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "No write access");
+        goto fail;
+    }
+
     /* allocate clusters and store bitmaps */
     QSIMPLEQ_FOREACH(bm, bm_list, entry) {
         if (bm->dirty_bitmap == NULL) {
@@ -1578,6 +1580,7 @@ void qcow2_store_persistent_dirty_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
         bdrv_release_dirty_bitmap(bm->dirty_bitmap);
     }
 
+success:
     bitmap_list_free(bm_list);
     return;
 
diff --git a/include/block/dirty-bitmap.h b/include/block/dirty-bitmap.h
index 257f0f6704..958e7474fb 100644
--- a/include/block/dirty-bitmap.h
+++ b/include/block/dirty-bitmap.h
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ bool bdrv_has_readonly_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs);
 bool bdrv_dirty_bitmap_get_autoload(const BdrvDirtyBitmap *bitmap);
 bool bdrv_dirty_bitmap_get_persistence(BdrvDirtyBitmap *bitmap);
 bool bdrv_dirty_bitmap_inconsistent(const BdrvDirtyBitmap *bitmap);
-bool bdrv_has_changed_persistent_bitmaps(BlockDriverState *bs);
 
 BdrvDirtyBitmap *bdrv_dirty_bitmap_first(BlockDriverState *bs);
 BdrvDirtyBitmap *bdrv_dirty_bitmap_next(BdrvDirtyBitmap *bitmap);