diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 20b019ba4a..d88f017457 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -5227,6 +5227,11 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPBasicArch(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
 static void
 virQEMUCapsInitQMPVersionCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
 {
+    /* While the removal of pre-blockdev code is in progress we always hard-code
+     * the support for QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV */
+    virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV);
+    virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_HOSTDEV_SCSI);
+
     /* -enable-fips is deprecated in QEMU 5.2.0, and QEMU
      * should be built with gcrypt to achieve FIPS compliance
      * automatically / implicitly
@@ -5246,17 +5251,11 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPVersionCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
 void
 virQEMUCapsInitProcessCapsInterlock(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
 {
-    if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV))
-        virQEMUCapsClear(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_BACKUP);
-
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_BACKUP) &&
         virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_REOPEN) &&
         virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MIGRATION_PARAM_BLOCK_BITMAP_MAPPING))
         virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP);
 
-    if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV))
-        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_HOSTDEV_SCSI);
-
     /* The -compat qemu command line argument is implemented using a newer
      * method which doesn't show up in query-command-line-options. As we'll use
      * it only for development and testing purposes we can base the capability
@@ -5301,13 +5300,6 @@ virQEMUCapsInitProcessCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps)
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_CPU_UNAVAILABLE_FEATURES))
         virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_CANONICAL_CPU_FEATURES);
 
-    /* To avoid guest ABI regression, blockdev shall be enabled only when
-     * we are able to pass the custom 'device_id' for SCSI disks and cdroms. */
-    if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCK_FILE_AUTO_READONLY_DYNAMIC) &&
-        virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_SCSI_DISK_DEVICE_ID) &&
-        virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_SAVEVM_MONITOR_NODES))
-        virQEMUCapsSet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV);
-
     /* We can't probe "esp" as a type via virQEMUCapsObjectTypes
      * array as it is only usable when builtin to the machine type
      */
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 9c773b06b0..5f69c57fd4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -5623,6 +5623,12 @@ qemuProcessStartUpdateCustomCaps(virDomainObj *vm)
                 return -1;
             }
 
+            /* The code is being cleaned up to always assume the support for
+             * -blockdev thus we must no longer allow users to clear it */
+            if (tmp == QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV ||
+                tmp == QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_HOSTDEV_SCSI)
+                continue;
+
             virQEMUCapsClear(priv->qemuCaps, tmp);
         }
     }
@@ -5647,6 +5653,12 @@ qemuProcessStartUpdateCustomCaps(virDomainObj *vm)
                 return -1;
             }
 
+            /* The code is being cleaned up to always assume the support for
+             * -blockdev thus we must no longer allow users to clear it */
+            if (tmp == QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV ||
+                tmp == QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKDEV_HOSTDEV_SCSI)
+                continue;
+
             virQEMUCapsClear(priv->qemuCaps, tmp);
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/domaincapsdata/qemu_4.2.0.ppc64.xml b/tests/domaincapsdata/qemu_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
index e21ba9372b..8ea7ad5714 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapsdata/qemu_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
+++ b/tests/domaincapsdata/qemu_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
     <gic supported='no'/>
     <vmcoreinfo supported='no'/>
     <genid supported='no'/>
-    <backingStoreInput supported='no'/>
+    <backingStoreInput supported='yes'/>
     <backup supported='no'/>
     <sev supported='no'/>
   </features>
diff --git a/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_4.2.0.ppc64.xml b/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
index 8cba4628ee..4a165e5c6b 100644
--- a/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
+++ b/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_4.2.0.ppc64.xml
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
   <flag name='machine.pseries.cap-htm'/>
   <flag name='egl-headless'/>
   <flag name='vfio-pci.display'/>
+  <flag name='blockdev'/>
   <flag name='memory-backend-memfd'/>
   <flag name='memory-backend-memfd.hugetlb'/>
   <flag name='iothread.poll-max-ns'/>
@@ -139,11 +140,13 @@
   <flag name='tcg'/>
   <flag name='pvscsi'/>
   <flag name='spapr-tpm-proxy'/>
+  <flag name='blockdev-hostdev-scsi'/>
   <flag name='dc390'/>
   <flag name='am53c974'/>
   <flag name='vhost-user-blk'/>
   <flag name='cpu-max'/>
   <flag name='memory-backend-file.x-use-canonical-path-for-ramblock-id'/>
+  <flag name='blockdev-backup'/>
   <flag name='rotation-rate'/>
   <flag name='input-linux'/>
   <flag name='query-display-options'/>