diff --git a/common/pkg/config/config.go b/common/pkg/config/config.go
index 2b005d39f8..ea5c1adf8a 100644
--- a/common/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/common/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -1168,27 +1168,6 @@ func IsValidDeviceMode(mode string) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
-// resolveHomeDir converts a path referencing the home directory via "~"
-// to an absolute path
-func resolveHomeDir(path string) (string, error) {
-	// check if the path references the home dir to avoid work
-	// don't use strings.HasPrefix(path, "~") as this doesn't match "~" alone
-	// use strings.HasPrefix(...) to not match "something/~/something"
-	if !(path == "~" || strings.HasPrefix(path, "~/")) {
-		// path does not reference home dir -> Nothing to do
-		return path, nil
-	}
-
-	// only get HomeDir when necessary
-	home, err := unshare.HomeDir()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-
-	// replace the first "~" (start of path) with the HomeDir to resolve "~"
-	return strings.Replace(path, "~", home, 1), nil
-}
-
 func rootlessConfigPath() (string, error) {
 	if configHome := os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"); configHome != "" {
 		return filepath.Join(configHome, _configPath), nil
@@ -1201,20 +1180,6 @@ func rootlessConfigPath() (string, error) {
 	return filepath.Join(home, UserOverrideContainersConfig), nil
 }
 
-func stringsEq(a, b []string) bool {
-	if len(a) != len(b) {
-		return false
-	}
-
-	for i := range a {
-		if a[i] != b[i] {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-
-	return true
-}
-
 var (
 	configErr   error
 	configMutex sync.Mutex
diff --git a/common/pkg/config/config_local.go b/common/pkg/config/config_local.go
index 4e2a0abc95..10d40dddba 100644
--- a/common/pkg/config/config_local.go
+++ b/common/pkg/config/config_local.go
@@ -9,37 +9,11 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
-	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/container-orchestrated-devices/container-device-interface/pkg/parser"
 	units "github.com/docker/go-units"
 )
 
-// isDirectory tests whether the given path exists and is a directory. It
-// follows symlinks.
-func isDirectory(path string) error {
-	path, err := resolveHomeDir(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	info, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if !info.Mode().IsDir() {
-		// Return a PathError to be consistent with os.Stat().
-		return &os.PathError{
-			Op:   "stat",
-			Path: path,
-			Err:  syscall.ENOTDIR,
-		}
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func (c *EngineConfig) validatePaths() error {
 	// Relative paths can cause nasty bugs, because core paths we use could
 	// shift between runs or even parts of the program. - The OCI runtime