diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 487eea4149..df85b751ca 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2402,7 +2402,7 @@ virKeycodeValueTranslate;
 
 
 # util/virkmod.h
-virKModIsBlacklisted;
+virKModIsProhibited;
 virKModLoad;
 virKModUnload;
 
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.c b/src/util/virfile.c
index 7b92c8767c..7cf5439177 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virfile.c
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ virFileNBDDeviceFindUnused(void)
 static bool
 virFileNBDLoadDriver(void)
 {
-    if (virKModIsBlacklisted(NBD_DRIVER)) {
+    if (virKModIsProhibited(NBD_DRIVER)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
                        _("Failed to load nbd module: "
                          "administratively prohibited"));
diff --git a/src/util/virkmod.c b/src/util/virkmod.c
index d4e35bdf14..6a996ebb04 100644
--- a/src/util/virkmod.c
+++ b/src/util/virkmod.c
@@ -112,32 +112,32 @@ virKModUnload(const char *module)
 
 
 /**
- * virKModIsBlacklisted:
- * @module: Name of the module to check for on the blacklist
+ * virKModIsProhibited:
+ * @module: Name of the module to check
  *
- * Search the output of the configuration data for the module being
- * blacklisted.
+ * Determine if loading of @module is prohibited by admin
+ * configuration.
  *
- * returns true when found blacklisted, false otherwise.
+ * returns true when found prohibited, false otherwise.
  */
 bool
-virKModIsBlacklisted(const char *module)
+virKModIsProhibited(const char *module)
 {
     size_t i;
-    g_autofree char *drvblklst = NULL;
+    g_autofree char *drvmatch = NULL;
     g_autofree char *outbuf = NULL;
 
-    drvblklst = g_strdup_printf("blacklist %s\n", module);
+    drvmatch = g_strdup_printf("blacklist %s\n", module);
 
     /* modprobe will convert all '-' into '_', so we need to as well */
-    for (i = 0; i < drvblklst[i]; i++)
-        if (drvblklst[i] == '-')
-            drvblklst[i] = '_';
+    for (i = 0; i < drvmatch[i]; i++)
+        if (drvmatch[i] == '-')
+            drvmatch[i] = '_';
 
     if (doModprobe("-c", NULL, &outbuf, NULL) < 0)
         return false;
 
-    if (strstr(outbuf, drvblklst))
+    if (strstr(outbuf, drvmatch))
         return true;
 
     return false;
diff --git a/src/util/virkmod.h b/src/util/virkmod.h
index 3bb161df52..bb043d4876 100644
--- a/src/util/virkmod.h
+++ b/src/util/virkmod.h
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@ char *virKModLoad(const char *)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 char *virKModUnload(const char *)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
-bool virKModIsBlacklisted(const char *)
+bool virKModIsProhibited(const char *)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
diff --git a/src/util/virpci.c b/src/util/virpci.c
index 24de69c75e..eb7ca50108 100644
--- a/src/util/virpci.c
+++ b/src/util/virpci.c
@@ -1023,10 +1023,10 @@ virPCIProbeStubDriver(virPCIStubDriver driver)
     }
 
  cleanup:
-    /* If we know failure was because of blacklist, let's report that;
+    /* If we know failure was because of admin config, let's report that;
      * otherwise, report a more generic failure message
      */
-    if (virKModIsBlacklisted(drvname)) {
+    if (virKModIsProhibited(drvname)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        _("Failed to load PCI stub module %s: "
                          "administratively prohibited"),