diff --git a/mkfs.c b/mkfs.c
index dbd83f5c..f2b57792 100644
--- a/mkfs.c
+++ b/mkfs.c
@@ -1543,7 +1543,6 @@ int main(int ac, char **av)
 
 	btrfs_register_one_device(file);
 
-	zero_end = 1;
 	while (dev_cnt-- > 0) {
 		int old_mixed = mixed;
 
diff --git a/utils.c b/utils.c
index 44c0e4ab..29953d9d 100644
--- a/utils.c
+++ b/utils.c
@@ -613,7 +613,6 @@ int btrfs_prepare_device(int fd, char *file, int zero_end, u64 *block_count_ret,
 	}
 	if (max_block_count)
 		block_count = min(block_count, max_block_count);
-	zero_end = 1;
 
 	if (block_count < 1024 * 1024 * 1024 && !(*mixed)) {
 		printf("SMALL VOLUME: forcing mixed metadata/data groups\n");