diff --git a/lib/galaxy/objectstore/azure_blob.py b/lib/galaxy/objectstore/azure_blob.py
index 64efa4acdf4..533a546b650 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/objectstore/azure_blob.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/objectstore/azure_blob.py
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ class AzureBlobObjectStore(ObjectStore):
         self.transfer_progress = 0
         self._parse_config_xml(config_xml)
         self._configure_connection()
-        self.container_lease = self._get_container_lease()
 
         # Clean cache only if value is set in galaxy.ini
         if self.cache_size != -1:
@@ -89,28 +88,6 @@ class AzureBlobObjectStore(ObjectStore):
         self.account = CloudStorageAccount(self.account_name, self.account_key)
         self.service = self.account.create_block_blob_service()
 
-    def _get_container_lease(self):
-        """ Sometimes a handle to a container is not established right away so try
-        it a few times. Raise error is connection is not established. """
-        for i in range(5):
-            try:
-                self.service.break_container_lease(self.container_name)
-                container_lease = self.service.acquire_container_lease(self.container_name)
-                log.debug("Using azure blob store with container '%s'", self.container_name)
-                return container_lease
-            except AzureHttpError:
-                try:
-                    log.debug("container not found, creating azure blob store container with name '%s'", self.container_name)
-                    self.service.create_container(self.container_name)
-                    container_lease = self.service.acquire_container_lease(self.container_name)
-                    return container_lease
-                except AzureHttpError:
-                    log.exception("Could not get container '%s', attempt %s/5", self.container_name, i + 1)
-                    time.sleep(2)
-        # All the attempts have been exhausted and connection was not established,
-        # raise error
-        raise AzureHttpError
-
     def _construct_path(self, obj, base_dir=None, dir_only=None, extra_dir=None, extra_dir_at_root=False, alt_name=None, obj_dir=False, **kwargs):
         # extra_dir should never be constructed from provided data but just
         # make sure there are no shenannigans afoot