diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost.c b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
index 1c8950803..05cf1684e 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -1458,18 +1458,6 @@ spdk_vhost_init(spdk_vhost_init_cb init_cb)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	ret = vhost_scsi_controller_construct();
-	if (ret != 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot construct vhost controllers\n");
-		goto out;
-	}
-
-	ret = vhost_blk_controller_construct();
-	if (ret != 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Cannot construct vhost block controllers\n");
-		goto out;
-	}
-
 	spdk_cpuset_zero(&g_vhost_core_mask);
 
 	/* iterate threads instead of using SPDK_ENV_FOREACH_CORE to ensure that threads are really
diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost_blk.c b/lib/vhost/vhost_blk.c
index eeb788012..df04eee8c 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost_blk.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost_blk.c
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@
 #include "spdk/env.h"
 #include "spdk/bdev.h"
 #include "spdk/bdev_module.h"
-#include "spdk/conf.h"
 #include "spdk/thread.h"
 #include "spdk/likely.h"
 #include "spdk/string.h"
@@ -1190,52 +1189,6 @@ static const struct spdk_vhost_dev_backend vhost_blk_device_backend = {
 	.remove_device = vhost_blk_destroy,
 };
 
-int
-vhost_blk_controller_construct(void)
-{
-	struct spdk_conf_section *sp;
-	unsigned ctrlr_num;
-	char *bdev_name;
-	char *cpumask;
-	char *name;
-	bool readonly;
-	bool packed_ring;
-
-	for (sp = spdk_conf_first_section(NULL); sp != NULL; sp = spdk_conf_next_section(sp)) {
-		if (!spdk_conf_section_match_prefix(sp, "VhostBlk")) {
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (sscanf(spdk_conf_section_get_name(sp), "VhostBlk%u", &ctrlr_num) != 1) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Section '%s' has non-numeric suffix.\n",
-				    spdk_conf_section_get_name(sp));
-			return -1;
-		}
-
-		name = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Name");
-		if (name == NULL) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("VhostBlk%u: missing Name\n", ctrlr_num);
-			return -1;
-		}
-
-		cpumask = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Cpumask");
-		readonly = spdk_conf_section_get_boolval(sp, "ReadOnly", false);
-		packed_ring = spdk_conf_section_get_boolval(sp, "PackedRing", false);
-
-		bdev_name = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Dev");
-		if (bdev_name == NULL) {
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (spdk_vhost_blk_construct(name, cpumask, bdev_name,
-					     readonly, packed_ring) < 0) {
-			return -1;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int
 spdk_vhost_blk_construct(const char *name, const char *cpumask, const char *dev_name,
 			 bool readonly, bool packed_ring)
diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost_internal.h b/lib/vhost/vhost_internal.h
index 9030caeed..46bfd048f 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost_internal.h
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost_internal.h
@@ -380,8 +380,6 @@ int vhost_dev_register(struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev, const char *name, const char
 		       const struct spdk_vhost_dev_backend *backend);
 int vhost_dev_unregister(struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev);
 
-int vhost_scsi_controller_construct(void);
-int vhost_blk_controller_construct(void);
 void vhost_dump_info_json(struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev, struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w);
 
 /*
diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost_scsi.c b/lib/vhost/vhost_scsi.c
index 7361eb83f..632e096ea 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost_scsi.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost_scsi.c
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 #include "spdk/thread.h"
 #include "spdk/scsi.h"
 #include "spdk/scsi_spec.h"
-#include "spdk/conf.h"
 #include "spdk/util.h"
 #include "spdk/likely.h"
 
@@ -1295,74 +1294,6 @@ vhost_scsi_dev_param_changed(struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev, unsigned scsi_tgt_num)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int
-vhost_scsi_controller_construct(void)
-{
-	struct spdk_conf_section *sp = spdk_conf_first_section(NULL);
-	struct spdk_vhost_dev *vdev;
-	int i, dev_num;
-	unsigned ctrlr_num = 0;
-	char *bdev_name, *tgt_num_str;
-	char *cpumask;
-	char *name;
-	char *tgt = NULL;
-
-	while (sp != NULL) {
-		if (!spdk_conf_section_match_prefix(sp, "VhostScsi")) {
-			sp = spdk_conf_next_section(sp);
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (sscanf(spdk_conf_section_get_name(sp), "VhostScsi%u", &ctrlr_num) != 1) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Section '%s' has non-numeric suffix.\n",
-				    spdk_conf_section_get_name(sp));
-			return -1;
-		}
-
-		name =  spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Name");
-		cpumask = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "Cpumask");
-
-		if (spdk_vhost_scsi_dev_construct(name, cpumask) < 0) {
-			return -1;
-		}
-
-		vdev = spdk_vhost_dev_find(name);
-		assert(vdev);
-
-		for (i = 0; ; i++) {
-
-			tgt = spdk_conf_section_get_nval(sp, "Target", i);
-			if (tgt == NULL) {
-				break;
-			}
-
-			tgt_num_str = spdk_conf_section_get_nmval(sp, "Target", i, 0);
-			if (tgt_num_str == NULL) {
-				SPDK_ERRLOG("%s: invalid or missing SCSI target number\n", name);
-				return -1;
-			}
-
-			dev_num = (int)strtol(tgt_num_str, NULL, 10);
-			bdev_name = spdk_conf_section_get_nmval(sp, "Target", i, 1);
-			if (bdev_name == NULL) {
-				SPDK_ERRLOG("%s: invalid or missing bdev name for SCSI target %d\n", name, dev_num);
-				return -1;
-			} else if (spdk_conf_section_get_nmval(sp, "Target", i, 2)) {
-				SPDK_ERRLOG("%s: only one LUN per SCSI target is supported\n", name);
-				return -1;
-			}
-
-			if (spdk_vhost_scsi_dev_add_tgt(vdev, dev_num, bdev_name) < 0) {
-				return -1;
-			}
-		}
-
-		sp = spdk_conf_next_section(sp);
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static void
 free_task_pool(struct spdk_vhost_scsi_session *svsession)
 {
diff --git a/mk/spdk.lib_deps.mk b/mk/spdk.lib_deps.mk
index 4184577b1..d6cf411c7 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.lib_deps.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.lib_deps.mk
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ endif
 DEPDIRS-scsi := log util thread $(JSON_LIBS) trace bdev
 
 DEPDIRS-iscsi := log sock util conf thread $(JSON_LIBS) trace scsi
-DEPDIRS-vhost = log util conf thread $(JSON_LIBS) bdev scsi
+DEPDIRS-vhost = log util thread $(JSON_LIBS) bdev scsi
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Start module/ directory - This section extends the organizational pattern from