diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 8f84dbc5cb..68651a9ba4 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1067,9 +1067,9 @@ int bdrv_open(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename, QDict *options,
         /* if snapshot, we create a temporary backing file and open it
            instead of opening 'filename' directly */
 
-        /* if there is a backing file, use it */
         bs1 = bdrv_new("");
-        ret = bdrv_open(bs1, filename, NULL, 0, drv, &local_err);
+        ret = bdrv_open(bs1, filename, NULL, BDRV_O_NO_BACKING, drv,
+                        &local_err);
         if (ret < 0) {
             bdrv_unref(bs1);
             goto fail;
diff --git a/block/qcow2.c b/block/qcow2.c
index b43c7d0a3e..f2897b64aa 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.c
+++ b/block/qcow2.c
@@ -1605,7 +1605,8 @@ static int qcow2_create2(const char *filename, int64_t total_size,
 
     /* Reopen the image without BDRV_O_NO_FLUSH to flush it before returning */
     ret = bdrv_open(bs, filename, NULL,
-                    BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_CACHE_WB, drv, &local_err);
+                    BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_CACHE_WB | BDRV_O_NO_BACKING,
+                    drv, &local_err);
     if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
         error_propagate(errp, local_err);
         goto out;
diff --git a/block/vmdk.c b/block/vmdk.c
index a7ebd0f125..d35a9d7e02 100644
--- a/block/vmdk.c
+++ b/block/vmdk.c
@@ -1689,7 +1689,7 @@ static int vmdk_create(const char *filename, QEMUOptionParameter *options,
     }
     if (backing_file) {
         BlockDriverState *bs = bdrv_new("");
-        ret = bdrv_open(bs, backing_file, NULL, 0, NULL, errp);
+        ret = bdrv_open(bs, backing_file, NULL, BDRV_O_NO_BACKING, NULL, errp);
         if (ret != 0) {
             bdrv_unref(bs);
             return ret;