diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 6c3d6cd..4b35be4 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -327,7 +327,6 @@
 glusterfs_discard="no"
 glusterfs_zerofill="no"
 archipelago=""
-virtio_blk_data_plane=""
 gtk=""
 gtkabi=""
 vte=""
@@ -1093,9 +1092,8 @@
   ;;
   --enable-archipelago) archipelago="yes"
   ;;
-  --disable-virtio-blk-data-plane) virtio_blk_data_plane="no"
-  ;;
-  --enable-virtio-blk-data-plane) virtio_blk_data_plane="yes"
+  --disable-virtio-blk-data-plane|--enable-virtio-blk-data-plane)
+      echo "$0: $opt is obsolete, virtio-blk data-plane is always on" >&2
   ;;
   --disable-gtk) gtk="no"
   ;;
@@ -2944,16 +2942,6 @@
 fi
 
 ##########################################
-# adjust virtio-blk-data-plane based on linux-aio
-
-if test "$virtio_blk_data_plane" = "yes" -a \
-	"$linux_aio" != "yes" ; then
-  error_exit "virtio-blk-data-plane requires Linux AIO, please try --enable-linux-aio"
-elif test -z "$virtio_blk_data_plane" ; then
-  virtio_blk_data_plane=$linux_aio
-fi
-
-##########################################
 # attr probe
 
 if test "$attr" != "no" ; then
@@ -4327,7 +4315,6 @@
 echo "coroutine pool    $coroutine_pool"
 echo "GlusterFS support $glusterfs"
 echo "Archipelago support $archipelago"
-echo "virtio-blk-data-plane $virtio_blk_data_plane"
 echo "gcov              $gcov_tool"
 echo "gcov enabled      $gcov"
 echo "TPM support       $tpm"
@@ -4789,10 +4776,6 @@
   echo "CONFIG_QUORUM=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 
-if test "$virtio_blk_data_plane" = "yes" ; then
-  echo 'CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE=$(CONFIG_VIRTIO)' >> $config_host_mak
-fi
-
 if test "$vhdx" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_VHDX=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
diff --git a/hw/block/Makefile.objs b/hw/block/Makefile.objs
index bf46f03..d4c3ab7 100644
--- a/hw/block/Makefile.objs
+++ b/hw/block/Makefile.objs
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@
 obj-$(CONFIG_SH4) += tc58128.o
 
 obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO) += virtio-blk.o
-obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE) += dataplane/
+obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO) += dataplane/
diff --git a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
index 38ad38f..45e0c8f 100644
--- a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
+++ b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
@@ -18,10 +18,8 @@
 #include "hw/block/block.h"
 #include "sysemu/blockdev.h"
 #include "hw/virtio/virtio-blk.h"
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
-# include "dataplane/virtio-blk.h"
-# include "migration/migration.h"
-#endif
+#include "dataplane/virtio-blk.h"
+#include "migration/migration.h"
 #include "block/scsi.h"
 #ifdef __linux__
 # include <scsi/sg.h>
@@ -435,7 +433,6 @@
         .num_writes = 0,
     };
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     /* Some guests kick before setting VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK so start
      * dataplane here instead of waiting for .set_status().
      */
@@ -443,7 +440,6 @@
         virtio_blk_data_plane_start(s->dataplane);
         return;
     }
-#endif
 
     while ((req = virtio_blk_get_request(s))) {
         virtio_blk_handle_request(req, &mrb);
@@ -500,11 +496,9 @@
 {
     VirtIOBlock *s = VIRTIO_BLK(vdev);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     if (s->dataplane) {
         virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(s->dataplane);
     }
-#endif
 
     /*
      * This should cancel pending requests, but can't do nicely until there
@@ -594,12 +588,10 @@
     VirtIOBlock *s = VIRTIO_BLK(vdev);
     uint32_t features;
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     if (s->dataplane && !(status & (VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER |
                                     VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK))) {
         virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(s->dataplane);
     }
-#endif
 
     if (!(status & VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK)) {
         return;
@@ -694,7 +686,6 @@
     .resize_cb = virtio_blk_resize,
 };
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
 /* Disable dataplane thread during live migration since it does not
  * update the dirty memory bitmap yet.
  */
@@ -725,7 +716,6 @@
         }
     }
 }
-#endif /* CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE */
 
 static void virtio_blk_device_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
 {
@@ -762,7 +752,6 @@
 
     s->vq = virtio_add_queue(vdev, 128, virtio_blk_handle_output);
     s->complete_request = virtio_blk_complete_request;
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     virtio_blk_data_plane_create(vdev, blk, &s->dataplane, &err);
     if (err != NULL) {
         error_propagate(errp, err);
@@ -771,7 +760,6 @@
     }
     s->migration_state_notifier.notify = virtio_blk_migration_state_changed;
     add_migration_state_change_notifier(&s->migration_state_notifier);
-#endif
 
     s->change = qemu_add_vm_change_state_handler(virtio_blk_dma_restart_cb, s);
     register_savevm(dev, "virtio-blk", virtio_blk_id++, 2,
@@ -789,11 +777,9 @@
     VirtIODevice *vdev = VIRTIO_DEVICE(dev);
     VirtIOBlock *s = VIRTIO_BLK(dev);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     remove_migration_state_change_notifier(&s->migration_state_notifier);
     virtio_blk_data_plane_destroy(s->dataplane);
     s->dataplane = NULL;
-#endif
     qemu_del_vm_change_state_handler(s->change);
     unregister_savevm(dev, "virtio-blk", s);
     blockdev_mark_auto_del(s->bs);
@@ -818,9 +804,7 @@
 #ifdef __linux__
     DEFINE_PROP_BIT("scsi", VirtIOBlock, blk.scsi, 0, true),
 #endif
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     DEFINE_PROP_BIT("x-data-plane", VirtIOBlock, blk.data_plane, 0, false),
-#endif
     DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
 };
 
diff --git a/hw/virtio/Makefile.objs b/hw/virtio/Makefile.objs
index ec9e855..d21c397 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/Makefile.objs
+++ b/hw/virtio/Makefile.objs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO_PCI) += virtio-pci.o
 common-obj-y += virtio-bus.o
 common-obj-y += virtio-mmio.o
-common-obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE) += dataplane/
+common-obj-$(CONFIG_VIRTIO) += dataplane/
 
 obj-y += virtio.o virtio-balloon.o 
 obj-$(CONFIG_LINUX) += vhost.o vhost-backend.o vhost-user.o
diff --git a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-blk.h b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-blk.h
index cf61154..f3853f2 100644
--- a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-blk.h
+++ b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-blk.h
@@ -132,10 +132,8 @@
     VMChangeStateEntry *change;
     /* Function to push to vq and notify guest */
     void (*complete_request)(struct VirtIOBlockReq *req, unsigned char status);
-#ifdef CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK_DATA_PLANE
     Notifier migration_state_notifier;
     struct VirtIOBlockDataPlane *dataplane;
-#endif
 } VirtIOBlock;
 
 typedef struct MultiReqBuffer {