diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/centos7/environment.d/10-centos7-distro-name.bash b/diskimage_builder/elements/centos7/environment.d/10-centos7-distro-name.bash
index c0c42a51..9291e56d 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/centos7/environment.d/10-centos7-distro-name.bash
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/centos7/environment.d/10-centos7-distro-name.bash
@@ -4,6 +4,3 @@ export DIB_RELEASE=GenericCloud
 # Useful for elements that work with fedora (dnf) & centos
 export YUM=${YUM:-yum}
 
-if [ -n "${DIB_CENTOS_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR:-}" ]; then
-    export DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR=$DIB_CENTOS_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR
-fi
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/fedora/environment.d/10-fedora-distro-name.bash b/diskimage_builder/elements/fedora/environment.d/10-fedora-distro-name.bash
index 5c83ef2e..0ffbc4f4 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/fedora/environment.d/10-fedora-distro-name.bash
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/fedora/environment.d/10-fedora-distro-name.bash
@@ -1,5 +1,2 @@
 export DISTRO_NAME=fedora
 export DIB_RELEASE=${DIB_RELEASE:-25}
-if [ -n "${DIB_FEDORA_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR:-}" ]; then
-    export DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR=$DIB_FEDORA_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR
-fi
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/environment.d/10-ubuntu-distro-name.bash b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/environment.d/10-ubuntu-distro-name.bash
index db0197f7..c6154267 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/environment.d/10-ubuntu-distro-name.bash
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/environment.d/10-ubuntu-distro-name.bash
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ export DISTRO_NAME=ubuntu
 export DIB_RELEASE=${DIB_RELEASE:-xenial}
 export DIB_DEBIAN_COMPONENTS=${DIB_DEBIAN_COMPONENTS:-main,universe}
 
-if [ -n "${DIB_UBUNTU_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR:-}" ]; then
-    DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR=$DIB_UBUNTU_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR
-fi
-
 # There are two default distro mirrors depending on architecture
 ARCH=${ARCH:-}
 if [[ "arm64 armhf powerpc ppc64el s390x" =~ "$ARCH" ]]; then
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/dib-distribution-mirror-8c241c0d3d4a539a.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/dib-distribution-mirror-8c241c0d3d4a539a.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a501d533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/dib-distribution-mirror-8c241c0d3d4a539a.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - The ``DIB_[DISTRO]_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR`` variables have been
+    removed.  These were undocumented ways to set
+    ``DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR`` for some elements.  It was not
+    implemented consistently and causing some confusion.  If you need
+    to setup mirrors for testing purposes, the
+    ``openstack-ci-mirrors`` element is a good example that is used by
+    OpenStack gate testing.
\ No newline at end of file