diff --git a/pkg/operator/vttablet/constants.go b/pkg/operator/vttablet/constants.go
index 98f5fc48..388bf580 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/vttablet/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/vttablet/constants.go
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ const (
 	dbConfigReplUname     = "vt_repl"
 	dbConfigFilteredUname = "vt_filtered"
 
-	vreplicationTabletType = "master"
-
 	dbInitScriptDirName = "db-init-script"
 
 	externalDatastoreCredentialsDirName = "external-datastore-credentials"
diff --git a/pkg/operator/vttablet/datastore.go b/pkg/operator/vttablet/datastore.go
index e5ff0b52..49379b65 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/vttablet/datastore.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/vttablet/datastore.go
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ func externalDatastoreFlags(spec *Spec) vitess.Flags {
 		"enable_replication_reporter": false,
 
 		"enforce_strict_trans_tables": false,
-		"vreplication_tablet_type":    vreplicationTabletType,
 	}
 
 	return flags