Fix crash when cloning layers

Hack to disable legacy code which is showing up
in some crash clusters. The code is obsolete and
has no effect when frontend is enabled. Reduce
some chaos/noise by avoiding this path when
frontend is enabled.

Fixes: 314858515
Test: presubmit
Change-Id: I3244e9d8b240f567ae5b68bc8120d7669d962d54