diff --git a/include/spdk/idxd.h b/include/spdk/idxd.h
index 0ddee8bbb..d66ace469 100644
--- a/include/spdk/idxd.h
+++ b/include/spdk/idxd.h
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 #define SPDK_IDXD_FLAG_NONTEMPORAL IDXD_FLAG_CACHE_CONTROL
 
-/* The following flag is optional and specifies that the destination is persistent memory. The
- * low level library will not set this flag.
- */
-#define SPDK_IDXD_FLAG_PERSISTENT IDXD_FLAG_DEST_STEERING_TAG
-
 /**
  * Opaque handle for a single IDXD channel.
  */
diff --git a/lib/idxd/idxd.c b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
index 430f6dcba..b4554bed4 100644
--- a/lib/idxd/idxd.c
+++ b/lib/idxd/idxd.c
@@ -630,14 +630,7 @@ _idxd_flush_batch(struct spdk_idxd_io_channel *chan)
 static inline void
 _update_write_flags(struct spdk_idxd_io_channel *chan, struct idxd_hw_desc *desc)
 {
-	if (desc->flags & SPDK_IDXD_FLAG_PERSISTENT) {
-		/* recent spec changes require a different set of flags for PMEM writes */
-		desc->flags &= ~IDXD_FLAG_DEST_STEERING_TAG;
-		desc->flags &= ~IDXD_FLAG_CACHE_CONTROL;
-		desc->flags |= IDXD_FLAG_DEST_READBACK;
-	} else {
-		desc->flags ^= IDXD_FLAG_CACHE_CONTROL;
-	}
+	desc->flags ^= IDXD_FLAG_CACHE_CONTROL;
 }
 
 int