diff --git a/include/fcb.h b/include/fcb.h
index 0d4249da1b..49d595d177 100644
--- a/include/fcb.h
+++ b/include/fcb.h
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ struct fcb {
 	u8_t f_version;		/* Current version number of the data */
 	u8_t f_sector_cnt;	/* Number of elements in sector array */
 	u8_t f_scratch_cnt;	/* How many sectors should be kept empty */
-	int f_area_id;
 	struct flash_sector *f_sectors; /* Array of sectors, */
 					/* must be contiguous */
 
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ struct fcb {
 #define FCB_ERR_CRC	-6
 #define FCB_ERR_MAGIC   -7
 
-int fcb_init(struct fcb *fcb);
+int fcb_init(int f_area_id, struct fcb *fcb);
 
 /*
  * fcb_append() appends an entry to circular buffer. When writing the
diff --git a/subsys/fs/fcb/fcb.c b/subsys/fs/fcb/fcb.c
index 5627396e55..97efd6ee77 100644
--- a/subsys/fs/fcb/fcb.c
+++ b/subsys/fs/fcb/fcb.c
@@ -12,54 +12,34 @@
 #include "fcb_priv.h"
 #include "string.h"
 
-const struct flash_area *
-fcb_open_flash(const struct fcb *fcb)
-{
-	const struct flash_area *fa;
-	int rc;
-
-	rc = flash_area_open(fcb->f_area_id, &fa);
-	if (rc != 0) {
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	return fa;
-}
-
 u8_t
 fcb_get_align(const struct fcb *fcb)
 {
-	const struct flash_area *fa;
 	u8_t align;
 
-	fa = fcb_open_flash(fcb);
-	if (fa == NULL) {
+	if (fcb->fap == NULL) {
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	align = flash_area_align(fa);
+	align = flash_area_align(fcb->fap);
 
-	flash_area_close(fa);
 	return align;
 }
 
 int fcb_flash_read(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector,
 		   off_t off, void *dst, size_t len)
 {
-	const struct flash_area *fa;
 	int rc;
 
 	if (off + len > sector->fs_size) {
 		return FCB_ERR_ARGS;
 	}
 
-	fa = fcb_open_flash(fcb);
-	if (fa == NULL) {
+	if (fcb->fap == NULL) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
 	}
 
-	rc = flash_area_read(fa, sector->fs_off + off, dst, len);
-	flash_area_close(fa);
+	rc = flash_area_read(fcb->fap, sector->fs_off + off, dst, len);
 
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
@@ -71,20 +51,17 @@ int fcb_flash_read(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector,
 int fcb_flash_write(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector,
 		    off_t off, const void *src, size_t len)
 {
-	const struct flash_area *fa;
 	int rc;
 
 	if (off + len > sector->fs_size) {
 		return FCB_ERR_ARGS;
 	}
 
-	fa = fcb_open_flash(fcb);
-	if (fa == NULL) {
+	if (fcb->fap == NULL) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
 	}
 
-	rc = flash_area_write(fa, sector->fs_off + off, src, len);
-	flash_area_close(fa);
+	rc = flash_area_write(fcb->fap, sector->fs_off + off, src, len);
 
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
@@ -96,16 +73,13 @@ int fcb_flash_write(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector,
 int
 fcb_erase_sector(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector)
 {
-	const struct flash_area *fa;
 	int rc;
 
-	fa = fcb_open_flash(fcb);
-	if (fa == NULL) {
+	if (fcb->fap == NULL) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
 	}
 
-	rc = flash_area_erase(fa, sector->fs_off, sector->fs_size);
-	flash_area_close(fa);
+	rc = flash_area_erase(fcb->fap, sector->fs_off, sector->fs_size);
 
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		return FCB_ERR_FLASH;
@@ -115,7 +89,7 @@ fcb_erase_sector(const struct fcb *fcb, const struct flash_sector *sector)
 }
 
 int
-fcb_init(struct fcb *fcb)
+fcb_init(int f_area_id, struct fcb *fcb)
 {
 	struct flash_sector *sector;
 	int rc;
@@ -129,8 +103,8 @@ fcb_init(struct fcb *fcb)
 		return FCB_ERR_ARGS;
 	}
 
-	fcb->fap = fcb_open_flash(fcb);
-	if (fcb->fap == NULL) {
+	rc = flash_area_open(f_area_id, &fcb->fap);
+	if (rc != 0) {
 		return FCB_ERR_ARGS;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_init.c b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_init.c
index 7d8a3c5638..f4fedd4269 100644
--- a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_init.c
+++ b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_init.c
@@ -14,22 +14,21 @@ void fcb_test_init(void)
 
 	fcb = &test_fcb;
 	memset(fcb, 0, sizeof(*fcb));
-	fcb->f_area_id = TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID;
 
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == FCB_ERR_ARGS, "fcb_init call should fail");
 
 	fcb->f_sectors = test_fcb_sector;
 
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == FCB_ERR_ARGS, "fcb_init call should fail");
 
 	fcb->f_sector_cnt = 2;
 	fcb->f_magic = 0x12345678;
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == FCB_ERR_MAGIC, "fcb_init call should fail");
 
 	fcb->f_magic = 0;
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == 0,  "fcb_init call failure");
 }
diff --git a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_reset.c b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_reset.c
index 4aa97da632..2a48d55ca7 100644
--- a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_reset.c
+++ b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/fcb_test_reset.c
@@ -61,9 +61,8 @@ void fcb_test_reset(void)
 	memset(fcb, 0, sizeof(*fcb));
 	fcb->f_sector_cnt = 2;
 	fcb->f_sectors = test_fcb_sector;
-	fcb->f_area_id = TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID;
 
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == 0, "fcb_init call failure");
 
 	var_cnt = 32;
@@ -100,9 +99,8 @@ void fcb_test_reset(void)
 	memset(fcb, 0, sizeof(*fcb));
 	fcb->f_sector_cnt = 2;
 	fcb->f_sectors = test_fcb_sector;
-	fcb->f_area_id = TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID;
 
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	zassert_true(rc == 0, "fcb_init call failure");
 
 	/*
diff --git a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/main.c b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/main.c
index f4a92e8807..a6ade02154 100644
--- a/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/main.c
+++ b/tests/subsys/fs/fcb/src/main.c
@@ -109,10 +109,9 @@ void fcb_tc_pretest(int sectors)
 	memset(fcb, 0, sizeof(*fcb));
 	fcb->f_sector_cnt = sectors;
 	fcb->f_sectors = test_fcb_sector; /* XXX */
-	fcb->f_area_id = TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID;
 
 	rc = 0;
-	rc = fcb_init(fcb);
+	rc = fcb_init(TEST_FCB_FLASH_AREA_ID, fcb);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		printf("%s rc == %xm, %d\n", __func__, rc, rc);
 		zassert_true(rc == 0, "fbc initialization failure");