diff --git a/qubes/vm/__init__.py b/qubes/vm/__init__.py
index 16bbe7d5..c72474cc 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/__init__.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/__init__.py
@@ -403,10 +403,6 @@ class BaseVM(qubes.PropertyHolder):
         #     conf_appvm.close()
         #     return domain_config
 
-        f_conf_template = open(self.config_file_template, 'r')
-        conf_template = f_conf_template.read()
-        f_conf_template.close()
-
         domain_config = self.app.env.get_template('libvirt/xen.xml').render(
             vm=self, prepare_dvm=prepare_dvm)
 
diff --git a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
index 9362bc0a..d5a6d70d 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
@@ -288,10 +288,6 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.mix.net.NetVMMixin, qubes.vm.BaseVM):
     # static, class-wide properties
     #
 
-    # config file should go away to storage/backend class
-    #: template for libvirt config file (XML)
-    config_file_template = qubes.config.system_path["config_template_pv"]
-
     #
     # properties not loaded from XML, calculated at run-time
     #