diff --git a/ironic/common/paths.py b/ironic/common/paths.py
deleted file mode 100644
index b4118ba36f..0000000000
--- a/ironic/common/paths.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2010 United States Government as represented by the
-# Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
-# All Rights Reserved.
-# Copyright 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
-#
-#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
-#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
-#    a copy of the License at
-#
-#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
-#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-#    under the License.
-
-import os
-
-from ironic.conf import CONF
-
-
-def basedir_def(*args):
-    """Return an uninterpolated path relative to $pybasedir."""
-    return os.path.join('$pybasedir', *args)
-
-
-def bindir_def(*args):
-    """Return an uninterpolated path relative to $bindir."""
-    return os.path.join('$bindir', *args)
-
-
-def state_path_def(*args):
-    """Return an uninterpolated path relative to $state_path."""
-    return os.path.join('$state_path', *args)
-
-
-def basedir_rel(*args):
-    """Return a path relative to $pybasedir."""
-    return os.path.join(CONF.pybasedir, *args)
-
-
-def bindir_rel(*args):
-    """Return a path relative to $bindir."""
-    return os.path.join(CONF.bindir, *args)
-
-
-def state_path_rel(*args):
-    """Return a path relative to $state_path."""
-    return os.path.join(CONF.state_path, *args)
diff --git a/ironic/common/rpc.py b/ironic/common/rpc.py
index e6b5de7edf..a542244b77 100644
--- a/ironic/common/rpc.py
+++ b/ironic/common/rpc.py
@@ -75,14 +75,6 @@ def set_defaults(control_exchange):
     messaging.set_transport_defaults(control_exchange)
 
 
-def add_extra_exmods(*args):
-    EXTRA_EXMODS.extend(args)
-
-
-def clear_extra_exmods():
-    del EXTRA_EXMODS[:]
-
-
 def get_allowed_exmods():
     return ALLOWED_EXMODS + EXTRA_EXMODS
 
diff --git a/ironic/db/sqlalchemy/models.py b/ironic/db/sqlalchemy/models.py
index d9108e7c0f..1d90d1bfe4 100644
--- a/ironic/db/sqlalchemy/models.py
+++ b/ironic/db/sqlalchemy/models.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 SQLAlchemy models for baremetal data.
 """
 
+from os import path
+
 from oslo_db import options as db_options
 from oslo_db.sqlalchemy import models
 from oslo_db.sqlalchemy import types as db_types
@@ -28,10 +30,10 @@ from sqlalchemy import schema, String, Text
 from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
 from sqlalchemy import orm
 
-from ironic.common import paths
 from ironic.conf import CONF
 
-_DEFAULT_SQL_CONNECTION = 'sqlite:///' + paths.state_path_def('ironic.sqlite')
+_DEFAULT_SQL_CONNECTION = 'sqlite:///' + path.join('$state_path',
+                                                   'ironic.sqlite')
 
 
 db_options.set_defaults(CONF, connection=_DEFAULT_SQL_CONNECTION)