diff --git a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/export.go b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/export.go
index 35169355c788..8955384f1bbf 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/export.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/export.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func declareKeysExport(
 // evalExport dumps the requested keys into files of non-overlapping key ranges
 // in a format suitable for bulk ingest.
 func evalExport(
-	ctx context.Context, batch storage.Reader, cArgs batcheval.CommandArgs, resp roachpb.Response,
+	ctx context.Context, reader storage.Reader, cArgs batcheval.CommandArgs, resp roachpb.Response,
 ) (result.Result, error) {
 	args := cArgs.Args.(*roachpb.ExportRequest)
 	h := cArgs.Header
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ func evalExport(
 		return result.Result{}, errors.Errorf("unknown MVCC filter: %s", args.MVCCFilter)
 	}
 
-	e := spanset.GetDBEngine(batch, roachpb.Span{Key: args.Key, EndKey: args.EndKey})
 	targetSize := uint64(args.TargetFileSize)
 	// TODO(adityamaru): Remove this once we are able to set tenant specific
 	// cluster settings. This takes the minimum of the system tenant's cluster
@@ -169,7 +168,7 @@ func evalExport(
 	var curSizeOfExportedSSTs int64
 	for start := args.Key; start != nil; {
 		destFile := &storage.MemFile{}
-		summary, resume, err := e.ExportMVCCToSst(start, args.EndKey, args.StartTime,
+		summary, resume, err := reader.ExportMVCCToSst(start, args.EndKey, args.StartTime,
 			h.Timestamp, exportAllRevisions, targetSize, maxSize, useTBI, destFile)
 		if err != nil {
 			return result.Result{}, err
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/batcheval/cmd_add_sstable.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/batcheval/cmd_add_sstable.go
index 0a0919d2256f..eeea6bdec055 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/batcheval/cmd_add_sstable.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/batcheval/cmd_add_sstable.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/keys"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/batcheval/result"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/kvserverpb"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvserver/spanset"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage/enginepb"
@@ -219,27 +218,20 @@ func EvalAddSSTable(
 
 func checkForKeyCollisions(
 	_ context.Context,
-	readWriter storage.ReadWriter,
+	reader storage.Reader,
 	mvccStartKey storage.MVCCKey,
 	mvccEndKey storage.MVCCKey,
 	data []byte,
 ) (enginepb.MVCCStats, error) {
-	// We could get a spansetBatch so fetch the underlying db engine as
-	// we need access to the underlying C.DBIterator later, and the
-	// dbIteratorGetter is not implemented by a spansetBatch.
-	dbEngine := spanset.GetDBEngine(readWriter, roachpb.Span{Key: mvccStartKey.Key, EndKey: mvccEndKey.Key})
-
-	emptyMVCCStats := enginepb.MVCCStats{}
-
 	// Create iterator over the existing data.
-	existingDataIter := dbEngine.NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyAndIntentsIterKind, storage.IterOptions{UpperBound: mvccEndKey.Key})
+	existingDataIter := reader.NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyAndIntentsIterKind, storage.IterOptions{UpperBound: mvccEndKey.Key})
 	defer existingDataIter.Close()
 	existingDataIter.SeekGE(mvccStartKey)
 	if ok, err := existingDataIter.Valid(); err != nil {
-		return emptyMVCCStats, errors.Wrap(err, "checking for key collisions")
+		return enginepb.MVCCStats{}, errors.Wrap(err, "checking for key collisions")
 	} else if !ok {
 		// Target key range is empty, so it is safe to ingest.
-		return emptyMVCCStats, nil
+		return enginepb.MVCCStats{}, nil
 	}
 
 	return existingDataIter.CheckForKeyCollisions(data, mvccStartKey.Key, mvccEndKey.Key)
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/spanset/batch.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/spanset/batch.go
index 2ae3a19634d1..23b3c6a3e9f5 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/spanset/batch.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/spanset/batch.go
@@ -489,28 +489,6 @@ func (s spanSetReader) PinEngineStateForIterators() error {
 	return s.r.PinEngineStateForIterators()
 }
 
-// GetDBEngine recursively searches for the underlying rocksDB engine.
-func GetDBEngine(reader storage.Reader, span roachpb.Span) storage.Reader {
-	switch v := reader.(type) {
-	case ReadWriter:
-		return GetDBEngine(getSpanReader(v, span), span)
-	case *spanSetBatch:
-		return GetDBEngine(getSpanReader(v.ReadWriter, span), span)
-	default:
-		return reader
-	}
-}
-
-// getSpanReader is a getter to access the storage.Reader field of the
-// spansetReader.
-func getSpanReader(r ReadWriter, span roachpb.Span) storage.Reader {
-	if err := r.spanSetReader.spans.CheckAllowed(SpanReadOnly, span); err != nil {
-		panic("Not in the span")
-	}
-
-	return r.spanSetReader.r
-}
-
 type spanSetWriter struct {
 	w     storage.Writer
 	spans *SpanSet