diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 7c79223812..eaeeb3a05d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -1757,15 +1757,6 @@ qemuBuildDriveStr(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
     if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_USB_STORAGE_WERROR))
         qemuBuildDiskFrontendAttributeErrorPolicy(disk, &opt);
 
-
-    /* While this is a frontend attribute, it only makes sense to be used when
-     * legacy -drive is used. In modern qemu the 'ide-cd' or 'scsi-cd' are used.
-     * virtio and other just ignore the attribute anyways */
-    if (disk->device == VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_DEVICE_CDROM &&
-        disk->bus != VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_BUS_SCSI &&
-        disk->bus != VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_BUS_IDE)
-        virBufferAddLit(&opt, ",media=cdrom");
-
     if (disk->src->readonly)
         virBufferAddLit(&opt, ",readonly=on");
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/disk-cdrom-bus-other.x86_64-latest.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/disk-cdrom-bus-other.x86_64-latest.args
index a64da3edd6..cb7902dfd0 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/disk-cdrom-bus-other.x86_64-latest.args
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/disk-cdrom-bus-other.x86_64-latest.args
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@ file=/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest1/master-key.aes \
 -no-acpi \
 -boot strict=on \
 -device piix3-usb-uhci,id=usb,bus=pci.0,addr=0x1.0x2 \
--drive file=/root/boot.iso,format=raw,if=none,id=drive-usb-disk0,media=cdrom,\
-readonly=on \
+-drive file=/root/boot.iso,format=raw,if=none,id=drive-usb-disk0,readonly=on \
 -device usb-storage,bus=usb.0,port=1,drive=drive-usb-disk0,id=usb-disk0,\
 removable=off \
--drive if=none,id=drive-usb-disk1,media=cdrom,readonly=on \
+-drive if=none,id=drive-usb-disk1,readonly=on \
 -device usb-storage,bus=usb.0,port=2,drive=drive-usb-disk1,id=usb-disk1,\
 removable=off \
--drive file=/root/boot2.iso,format=raw,if=sd,index=2,media=cdrom,readonly=on \
--drive if=sd,index=3,media=cdrom,readonly=on \
+-drive file=/root/boot2.iso,format=raw,if=sd,index=2,readonly=on \
+-drive if=sd,index=3,readonly=on \
 -sandbox on,obsolete=deny,elevateprivileges=deny,spawn=deny,\
 resourcecontrol=deny \
 -msg timestamp=on