diff --git a/pkg/controller/plan/kubevirt.go b/pkg/controller/plan/kubevirt.go
index 22dbf9784..72f9c367c 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/plan/kubevirt.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/plan/kubevirt.go
@@ -464,18 +464,6 @@ func (r *KubeVirt) DeleteVM(vm *plan.VMStatus) (err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-// Set the Running state on a Kubevirt VirtualMachine.
-func (r *KubeVirt) SetRunning(vmCr *VirtualMachine, running bool) (err error) {
-	vmCopy := vmCr.VirtualMachine.DeepCopy()
-	vmCr.VirtualMachine.Spec.Running = &running
-	patch := client.MergeFrom(vmCopy)
-	err = r.Destination.Client.Patch(context.TODO(), vmCr.VirtualMachine, patch)
-	if err != nil {
-		err = liberr.Wrap(err)
-	}
-	return
-}
-
 func (r *KubeVirt) DataVolumes(vm *plan.VMStatus) (dataVolumes []cdi.DataVolume, err error) {
 	secret, err := r.ensureSecret(vm.Ref, r.secretDataSetterForCDI(vm.Ref))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1091,7 +1079,8 @@ func (r *KubeVirt) virtualMachine(vm *plan.VMStatus) (object *cnv.VirtualMachine
 		object.ObjectMeta.Annotations = annotations
 	}
 
-	running := false
+	// Power on the destination VM if the source VM was originally powered on.
+	running := vm.RestorePowerState == On
 	object.Spec.Running = &running
 
 	err = r.Builder.VirtualMachine(vm.Ref, &object.Spec, pvcs)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/plan/migration.go b/pkg/controller/plan/migration.go
index 66c550c5d..0e9506bb4 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/plan/migration.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/plan/migration.go
@@ -1066,15 +1066,6 @@ func (r *Migration) execute(vm *plan.VMStatus) (err error) {
 				Durable:  true,
 			})
 
-		// Power on the destination VM if the source VM was originally powered on.
-		err = r.setRunning(vm, vm.RestorePowerState == On)
-		if err != nil {
-			r.Log.Error(err,
-				"Could not power on destination VM.",
-				"vm",
-				vm.String())
-			err = nil
-		}
 	} else if vm.Error != nil {
 		vm.Phase = Completed
 		vm.SetCondition(
@@ -1331,38 +1322,6 @@ func (r *Migration) ensureGuestConversionPod(vm *plan.VMStatus) (err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-// Set the running state of the kubevirt VM.
-func (r *Migration) setRunning(vm *plan.VMStatus, running bool) (err error) {
-	if r.vmMap == nil {
-		r.vmMap, err = r.kubevirt.VirtualMachineMap()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-	}
-	var vmCr VirtualMachine
-	found := false
-	if vmCr, found = r.vmMap[vm.ID]; !found {
-		// Recreate the map and check again, the map may be stale
-		r.vmMap, err = r.kubevirt.VirtualMachineMap()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		if vmCr, found = r.vmMap[vm.ID]; !found {
-			msg := "VirtualMachine CR not found."
-			vm.AddError(msg)
-			return
-		}
-	}
-
-	if vmCr.Spec.Running != nil && *vmCr.Spec.Running == running {
-		return
-	}
-
-	err = r.kubevirt.SetRunning(&vmCr, running)
-	return
-}
-
 // Update the progress of the appropriate disk copy step. (DiskTransfer, Cutover)
 func (r *Migration) updateCopyProgress(vm *plan.VMStatus, step *plan.Step) (err error) {
 	var pendingReason string