diff --git a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.c b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.c
index 0c6431b9b..d530b1386 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.c
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ static const char *vhost_message_str[VHOST_USER_MAX] = {
 	[VHOST_USER_NVME_SET_CQ_CALL] = "VHOST_USER_NVME_SET_CQ_CALL",
 	[VHOST_USER_NVME_GET_CAP] = "VHOST_USER_NVME_GET_CAP",
 	[VHOST_USER_NVME_START_STOP] = "VHOST_USER_NVME_START_STOP",
-	[VHOST_USER_NVME_IO_CMD] = "VHOST_USER_NVME_IO_CMD",
 	[VHOST_USER_NVME_SET_BAR_MR] = "VHOST_USER_NVME_SET_BAR_MR"
 };
 
@@ -1086,14 +1085,6 @@ vhost_user_check_and_alloc_queue_pair(struct virtio_net *dev, VhostUserMsg *msg)
 	return alloc_vring_queue(dev, vring_idx);
 }
 
-static int
-vhost_user_nvme_io_request_passthrough(struct virtio_net *dev,
-				       uint16_t qid, uint16_t tail_head,
-				       bool is_submission_queue)
-{
-	return -1;
-}
-
 static int
 vhost_user_nvme_admin_passthrough(struct virtio_net *dev,
 				  void *cmd, void *cqe, void *buf)
@@ -1221,8 +1212,6 @@ vhost_user_msg_handler(int vid, int fd)
 	uint8_t cqe[16];
 	uint8_t cmd[64];
 	uint8_t buf[4096];
-	uint16_t qid, tail_head;
-	bool is_submission_queue;
 
 	dev = get_device(vid);
 	if (dev == NULL)
@@ -1327,12 +1316,6 @@ vhost_user_msg_handler(int vid, int fd)
 			}
 		}
 		break;
-	case VHOST_USER_NVME_IO_CMD:
-		qid = msg.payload.nvme_io.qid;
-		tail_head = msg.payload.nvme_io.tail_head;
-		is_submission_queue = (msg.payload.nvme_io.queue_type == VHOST_USER_NVME_SUBMISSION_QUEUE) ? true : false;
-		vhost_user_nvme_io_request_passthrough(dev, qid, tail_head, is_submission_queue);
-		break;
 	case VHOST_USER_NVME_SET_BAR_MR:
 		ret = vhost_user_nvme_set_bar_mr(dev, &msg);
 		break;
diff --git a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.h b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.h
index 8d9d33de0..d20574b64 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.h
+++ b/lib/vhost/rte_vhost/vhost_user.h
@@ -127,17 +127,6 @@ typedef struct VhostUserConfig {
 	uint8_t region[VHOST_USER_MAX_CONFIG_SIZE];
 } VhostUserConfig;
 
-enum VhostUserNvmeQueueTypes {
-	VHOST_USER_NVME_SUBMISSION_QUEUE = 1,
-	VHOST_USER_NVME_COMPLETION_QUEUE = 2,
-};
-
-typedef struct VhostUserNvmeIO {
-	enum VhostUserNvmeQueueTypes queue_type;
-	uint32_t qid;
-	uint32_t tail_head;
-} VhostUserNvmeIO;
-
 typedef struct VhostUserMsg {
 	VhostUserRequest request;
 
@@ -162,7 +151,6 @@ typedef struct VhostUserMsg {
 			} cmd;
 			uint8_t buf[4096];
 		} nvme;
-		struct VhostUserNvmeIO nvme_io;
 	} payload;
 	int fds[VHOST_MEMORY_MAX_NREGIONS];
 } __attribute((packed)) VhostUserMsg;