diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index f82d829fdc..a56de74e5a 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -3362,7 +3362,7 @@
                                  '*rows'   : 'int' } }
 
 ##
-# @ChardevMemory:
+# @ChardevRingbuf:
 #
 # Configuration info for memory chardevs
 #
@@ -3370,7 +3370,7 @@
 #
 # Since: 1.5
 ##
-{ 'type': 'ChardevMemory', 'data': { '*size'  : 'int' } }
+{ 'type': 'ChardevRingbuf', 'data': { '*size'  : 'int' } }
 
 ##
 # @ChardevBackend:
@@ -3397,7 +3397,7 @@
                                        'spicevmc' : 'ChardevSpiceChannel',
                                        'spiceport' : 'ChardevSpicePort',
                                        'vc'     : 'ChardevVC',
-                                       'memory' : 'ChardevMemory' } }
+                                       'memory' : 'ChardevRingbuf' } }
 
 ##
 # @ChardevReturn:
diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index c86ce4ba2e..bd1aefb8b5 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -2783,8 +2783,8 @@ static void ringbuf_chr_close(struct CharDriverState *chr)
     chr->opaque = NULL;
 }
 
-static CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_memory(ChardevMemory *opts,
-                                             Error **errp)
+static CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_ringbuf(ChardevRingbuf *opts,
+                                              Error **errp)
 {
     CharDriverState *chr;
     RingBufCharDriver *d;
@@ -2796,7 +2796,7 @@ static CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_memory(ChardevMemory *opts,
 
     /* The size must be power of 2 */
     if (d->size & (d->size - 1)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "size of memory chardev must be power of two");
+        error_setg(errp, "size of ringbuf chardev must be power of two");
         goto fail;
     }
 
@@ -3105,12 +3105,12 @@ static void qemu_chr_parse_pipe(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
     backend->pipe->device = g_strdup(device);
 }
 
-static void qemu_chr_parse_memory(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
-                                  Error **errp)
+static void qemu_chr_parse_ringbuf(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
+                                   Error **errp)
 {
     int val;
 
-    backend->memory = g_new0(ChardevMemory, 1);
+    backend->memory = g_new0(ChardevRingbuf, 1);
 
     val = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, "size", 0);
     if (val != 0) {
@@ -3724,7 +3724,7 @@ ChardevReturn *qmp_chardev_add(const char *id, ChardevBackend *backend,
         chr = vc_init(backend->vc);
         break;
     case CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_MEMORY:
-        chr = qemu_chr_open_memory(backend->memory, errp);
+        chr = qemu_chr_open_ringbuf(backend->memory, errp);
         break;
     default:
         error_setg(errp, "unknown chardev backend (%d)", backend->kind);
@@ -3775,7 +3775,7 @@ static void register_types(void)
     register_char_driver("socket", qemu_chr_open_socket);
     register_char_driver("udp", qemu_chr_open_udp);
     register_char_driver_qapi("memory", CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_MEMORY,
-                              qemu_chr_parse_memory);
+                              qemu_chr_parse_ringbuf);
     register_char_driver_qapi("file", CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_FILE,
                               qemu_chr_parse_file_out);
     register_char_driver_qapi("stdio", CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_STDIO,
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 25ecb55da4..d15338e879 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -1783,7 +1783,7 @@ DEF("chardev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_chardev,
     "-chardev msmouse,id=id[,mux=on|off]\n"
     "-chardev vc,id=id[[,width=width][,height=height]][[,cols=cols][,rows=rows]]\n"
     "         [,mux=on|off]\n"
-    "-chardev memory,id=id[,size=size]\n"
+    "-chardev ringbuf,id=id[,size=size]\n"
     "-chardev file,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off]\n"
     "-chardev pipe,id=id,path=path[,mux=on|off]\n"
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -1821,7 +1821,7 @@ Backend is one of:
 @option{udp},
 @option{msmouse},
 @option{vc},
-@option{memory},
+@option{ringbuf},
 @option{file},
 @option{pipe},
 @option{console},
@@ -1930,7 +1930,7 @@ the console, in pixels.
 @option{cols} and @option{rows} specify that the console be sized to fit a text
 console with the given dimensions.
 
-@item -chardev memory ,id=@var{id} [,size=@var{size}]
+@item -chardev ringbuf ,id=@var{id} [,size=@var{size}]
 
 Create a ring buffer with fixed size @option{size}.
 @var{size} must be a power of two, and defaults to @code{64K}).