diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 36caf6fbfd..a35ad0f859 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1298,6 +1298,7 @@ virBitmapEqual;
 virBitmapFormat;
 virBitmapFree;
 virBitmapGetBit;
+virBitmapIntersect;
 virBitmapIsAllClear;
 virBitmapIsAllSet;
 virBitmapIsBitSet;
@@ -1318,7 +1319,6 @@ virBitmapSetBit;
 virBitmapSetBitExpand;
 virBitmapSize;
 virBitmapString;
-virBitmapSubtract;
 virBitmapToData;
 virBitmapToDataBuf;
 
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.c b/src/util/virbitmap.c
index eac63d9974..a5077fe7c8 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.c
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.c
@@ -1091,15 +1091,15 @@ virBitmapOverlaps(virBitmapPtr b1,
 }
 
 /**
- * virBitmapSubtract:
- * @a: minuend/result
- * @b: subtrahend
+ * virBitmapIntersect:
+ * @a: bitmap, modified to contain result
+ * @b: bitmap
  *
- * Performs bitwise subtraction: a = a - b
+ * Performs intersection of two bitmaps: a = intersect(a, b)
  */
 void
-virBitmapSubtract(virBitmapPtr a,
-                  virBitmapPtr b)
+virBitmapIntersect(virBitmapPtr a,
+                   virBitmapPtr b)
 {
     size_t i;
     size_t max = a->map_len;
@@ -1108,5 +1108,5 @@ virBitmapSubtract(virBitmapPtr a,
         max = b->map_len;
 
     for (i = 0; i < max; i++)
-        a->map[i] &= ~b->map[i];
+        a->map[i] &= b->map[i];
 }
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.h b/src/util/virbitmap.h
index 36282af1cd..ffa3c42d79 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.h
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.h
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ bool virBitmapOverlaps(virBitmapPtr b1,
                        virBitmapPtr b2)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
 
-void virBitmapSubtract(virBitmapPtr a, virBitmapPtr b)
+void virBitmapIntersect(virBitmapPtr a, virBitmapPtr b)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/virbitmaptest.c b/tests/virbitmaptest.c
index e5305d0223..76005117e7 100644
--- a/tests/virbitmaptest.c
+++ b/tests/virbitmaptest.c
@@ -589,10 +589,11 @@ test11(const void *opaque)
         virBitmapParse(data->res, &resmap, 256) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    virBitmapSubtract(amap, bmap);
+    virBitmapIntersect(amap, bmap);
 
     if (!virBitmapEqual(amap, resmap)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "\n bitmap subtraction failed: '%s'-'%s'!='%s'\n",
+        fprintf(stderr,
+                "\n bitmap intersection failed: intersect('%s','%s') !='%s'\n",
                 data->a, data->b, data->res);
         goto cleanup;
     }
@@ -700,13 +701,13 @@ mymain(void)
         ret = -1;
 
     virTestCounterReset("test11-");
-    TESTBINARYOP("0", "0", "0,^0", test11);
-    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0", "1-3", test11);
-    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0,3", "1-2", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0", "0", "0", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0", "0", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0,3", "0,3", test11);
     TESTBINARYOP("0,^0", "0", "0,^0", test11);
-    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0-3", "0,^0", test11);
-    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0,^0", "0-3", test11);
-    TESTBINARYOP("0,2", "1,3", "0,2", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0-3", "0-3", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0-3", "0,^0", "0,^0", test11);
+    TESTBINARYOP("0,2", "1,3", "0,^0", test11);
 
     if (virTestRun("test12", test12, NULL) < 0)
         ret = -1;