diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/cluster_util.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/cluster_util.go
index 97435d223..8048a5789 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/cluster_util.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/cluster_util.go
@@ -29,24 +29,6 @@ func startControlPlaneServices(ctx context.Context, snap snap.Snap, datastore st
 	return nil
 }
 
-func stopControlPlaneServices(ctx context.Context, snap snap.Snap, datastore string) error {
-	// Stop services
-	switch datastore {
-	case "k8s-dqlite":
-		if err := snaputil.StopK8sDqliteServices(ctx, snap); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to stop k8s-dqlite service: %w", err)
-		}
-	case "external":
-	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported datastore %s, must be one of %v", datastore, setup.SupportedDatastores)
-	}
-
-	if err := snaputil.StopControlPlaneServices(ctx, snap); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to stop control plane services: %w", err)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 func waitApiServerReady(ctx context.Context, snap snap.Snap) error {
 	// Wait for API server to come up
 	client, err := snap.KubernetesClient("")
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_remove.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_remove.go
index 4e90e6c05..c7548af60 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_remove.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_remove.go
@@ -92,10 +92,6 @@ func (a *App) onPreRemove(ctx context.Context, s state.State, force bool) (rerr
 				log.Error(err, "Failed to create k8s-dqlite client: %w")
 			}
 
-			log.Info("Cleaning up k8s-dqlite directory")
-			if err := os.RemoveAll(snap.K8sDqliteStateDir()); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("failed to cleanup k8s-dqlite state directory: %w", err)
-			}
 		case "external":
 			log.Info("Cleaning up external datastore certificates")
 			if _, err := setup.EnsureExtDatastorePKI(snap, &pki.ExternalDatastorePKI{}); err != nil {
@@ -107,6 +103,10 @@ func (a *App) onPreRemove(ctx context.Context, s state.State, force bool) (rerr
 		log.Error(err, "Failed to retrieve cluster config")
 	}
 
+	log.Info("Cleaning up k8s-dqlite directory")
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(snap.K8sDqliteStateDir()); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to cleanup k8s-dqlite state directory: %w", err)
+	}
 	for _, dir := range []string{snap.ServiceArgumentsDir()} {
 		log.WithValues("directory", dir).Info("Cleaning up config files", dir)
 		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@ func (a *App) onPreRemove(ctx context.Context, s state.State, force bool) (rerr
 		if err := snaputil.StopControlPlaneServices(ctx, snap); err != nil {
 			log.Error(err, "Failed to stop control-plane services")
 		}
+
+		log.Info("Stopping k8s-dqlite")
+		if err := snaputil.StopK8sDqliteServices(ctx, snap); err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "Failed to stop k8s-dqlite service")
+		}
 	}
 
 	tryCleanupContainerdPaths(log, snap)