diff --git a/engines/libzbc.c b/engines/libzbc.c
index 3dde93db54..7f2bc431b4 100644
--- a/engines/libzbc.c
+++ b/engines/libzbc.c
@@ -180,10 +180,8 @@ static int libzbc_get_zoned_model(struct thread_data *td, struct fio_file *f,
 	struct libzbc_data *ld;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_BLOCK && f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_CHAR) {
-		*model = ZBD_IGNORE;
-		return 0;
-	}
+	if (f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_BLOCK && f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_CHAR)
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	ret = libzbc_open_dev(td, f, &ld);
 	if (ret)
diff --git a/engines/skeleton_external.c b/engines/skeleton_external.c
index c79b6f1114..cff83a10ef 100644
--- a/engines/skeleton_external.c
+++ b/engines/skeleton_external.c
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@ static int fio_skeleton_close(struct thread_data *td, struct fio_file *f)
 /*
  * Hook for getting the zoned model of a zoned block device for zonemode=zbd.
  * The zoned model can be one of (see zbd_types.h):
- * - ZBD_IGNORE: skip regular files
  * - ZBD_NONE: regular block device (zone emulation will be used)
  * - ZBD_HOST_AWARE: host aware zoned block device
  * - ZBD_HOST_MANAGED: host managed zoned block device
diff --git a/oslib/linux-blkzoned.c b/oslib/linux-blkzoned.c
index 6f89ec6f41..4e441d29b8 100644
--- a/oslib/linux-blkzoned.c
+++ b/oslib/linux-blkzoned.c
@@ -140,10 +140,8 @@ int blkzoned_get_zoned_model(struct thread_data *td, struct fio_file *f,
 {
 	char *model_str = NULL;
 
-	if (f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_BLOCK) {
-		*model = ZBD_IGNORE;
-		return 0;
-	}
+	if (f->filetype != FIO_TYPE_BLOCK)
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	*model = ZBD_NONE;
 
diff --git a/zbd.c b/zbd.c
index d1db9adc29..aab4d74136 100644
--- a/zbd.c
+++ b/zbd.c
@@ -661,8 +661,6 @@ static int zbd_create_zone_info(struct thread_data *td, struct fio_file *f)
 		return ret;
 
 	switch (zbd_model) {
-	case ZBD_IGNORE:
-		return 0;
 	case ZBD_HOST_AWARE:
 	case ZBD_HOST_MANAGED:
 		ret = parse_zone_info(td, f);
@@ -680,6 +678,7 @@ static int zbd_create_zone_info(struct thread_data *td, struct fio_file *f)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	assert(f->zbd_info);
 	f->zbd_info->model = zbd_model;
 
 	ret = zbd_set_max_open_zones(td, f);
diff --git a/zbd_types.h b/zbd_types.h
index d0f4c44e23..0a8630cb71 100644
--- a/zbd_types.h
+++ b/zbd_types.h
@@ -14,10 +14,9 @@
  * Zoned block device models.
  */
 enum zbd_zoned_model {
-	ZBD_IGNORE,		/* Ignore file */
-	ZBD_NONE,		/* No zone support. Emulate zones. */
-	ZBD_HOST_AWARE,		/* Host-aware zoned block device */
-	ZBD_HOST_MANAGED,	/* Host-managed zoned block device */
+	ZBD_NONE		= 0x1,	/* No zone support. Emulate zones. */
+	ZBD_HOST_AWARE		= 0x2,	/* Host-aware zoned block device */
+	ZBD_HOST_MANAGED	= 0x3,	/* Host-managed zoned block device */
 };
 
 /*