diff --git a/backends/hostmem.c b/backends/hostmem.c
index 4428e06738..491cb10b97 100644
--- a/backends/hostmem.c
+++ b/backends/hostmem.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ static void host_memory_backend_set_prealloc(Object *obj, bool value,
         void *ptr = memory_region_get_ram_ptr(&backend->mr);
         uint64_t sz = memory_region_size(&backend->mr);
 
-        os_mem_prealloc(fd, ptr, sz, backend->prealloc_threads, &local_err);
+        qemu_prealloc_mem(fd, ptr, sz, backend->prealloc_threads, &local_err);
         if (local_err) {
             error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             return;
@@ -383,8 +383,8 @@ host_memory_backend_memory_complete(UserCreatable *uc, Error **errp)
          * specified NUMA policy in place.
          */
         if (backend->prealloc) {
-            os_mem_prealloc(memory_region_get_fd(&backend->mr), ptr, sz,
-                            backend->prealloc_threads, &local_err);
+            qemu_prealloc_mem(memory_region_get_fd(&backend->mr), ptr, sz,
+                              backend->prealloc_threads, &local_err);
             if (local_err) {
                 goto out;
             }
diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio-mem.c b/hw/virtio/virtio-mem.c
index 30d03e987a..0e9ef4ff19 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio-mem.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio-mem.c
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ static int virtio_mem_set_block_state(VirtIOMEM *vmem, uint64_t start_gpa,
             int fd = memory_region_get_fd(&vmem->memdev->mr);
             Error *local_err = NULL;
 
-            os_mem_prealloc(fd, area, size, 1, &local_err);
+            qemu_prealloc_mem(fd, area, size, 1, &local_err);
             if (local_err) {
                 static bool warned;
 
diff --git a/include/qemu/osdep.h b/include/qemu/osdep.h
index b1c161c035..e556e45143 100644
--- a/include/qemu/osdep.h
+++ b/include/qemu/osdep.h
@@ -568,8 +568,21 @@ unsigned long qemu_getauxval(unsigned long type);
 
 void qemu_set_tty_echo(int fd, bool echo);
 
-void os_mem_prealloc(int fd, char *area, size_t sz, int smp_cpus,
-                     Error **errp);
+/**
+ * qemu_prealloc_mem:
+ * @fd: the fd mapped into the area, -1 for anonymous memory
+ * @area: start address of the are to preallocate
+ * @sz: the size of the area to preallocate
+ * @max_threads: maximum number of threads to use
+ * @errp: returns an error if this function fails
+ *
+ * Preallocate memory (populate/prefault page tables writable) for the virtual
+ * memory area starting at @area with the size of @sz. After a successful call,
+ * each page in the area was faulted in writable at least once, for example,
+ * after allocating file blocks for mapped files.
+ */
+void qemu_prealloc_mem(int fd, char *area, size_t sz, int max_threads,
+                       Error **errp);
 
 /**
  * qemu_get_pid_name:
diff --git a/softmmu/cpus.c b/softmmu/cpus.c
index 61b27ff59d..01c94fd298 100644
--- a/softmmu/cpus.c
+++ b/softmmu/cpus.c
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ static void qemu_init_sigbus(void)
 
     /*
      * ALERT: when modifying this, take care that SIGBUS forwarding in
-     * os_mem_prealloc() will continue working as expected.
+     * qemu_prealloc_mem() will continue working as expected.
      */
     memset(&action, 0, sizeof(action));
     action.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
index 827a7aadba..905cbc27cc 100644
--- a/util/oslib-posix.c
+++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ static void sigbus_handler(int signal)
         return;
     }
 #endif /* CONFIG_LINUX */
-    warn_report("os_mem_prealloc: unrelated SIGBUS detected and ignored");
+    warn_report("qemu_prealloc_mem: unrelated SIGBUS detected and ignored");
 }
 
 static void *do_touch_pages(void *arg)
@@ -399,13 +399,13 @@ static void *do_madv_populate_write_pages(void *arg)
 }
 
 static inline int get_memset_num_threads(size_t hpagesize, size_t numpages,
-                                         int smp_cpus)
+                                         int max_threads)
 {
     long host_procs = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN);
     int ret = 1;
 
     if (host_procs > 0) {
-        ret = MIN(MIN(host_procs, MAX_MEM_PREALLOC_THREAD_COUNT), smp_cpus);
+        ret = MIN(MIN(host_procs, MAX_MEM_PREALLOC_THREAD_COUNT), max_threads);
     }
 
     /* Especially with gigantic pages, don't create more threads than pages. */
@@ -418,11 +418,11 @@ static inline int get_memset_num_threads(size_t hpagesize, size_t numpages,
 }
 
 static int touch_all_pages(char *area, size_t hpagesize, size_t numpages,
-                           int smp_cpus, bool use_madv_populate_write)
+                           int max_threads, bool use_madv_populate_write)
 {
     static gsize initialized = 0;
     MemsetContext context = {
-        .num_threads = get_memset_num_threads(hpagesize, numpages, smp_cpus),
+        .num_threads = get_memset_num_threads(hpagesize, numpages, max_threads),
     };
     size_t numpages_per_thread, leftover;
     void *(*touch_fn)(void *);
@@ -494,13 +494,13 @@ static bool madv_populate_write_possible(char *area, size_t pagesize)
            errno != EINVAL;
 }
 
-void os_mem_prealloc(int fd, char *area, size_t memory, int smp_cpus,
-                     Error **errp)
+void qemu_prealloc_mem(int fd, char *area, size_t sz, int max_threads,
+                       Error **errp)
 {
     static gsize initialized;
     int ret;
     size_t hpagesize = qemu_fd_getpagesize(fd);
-    size_t numpages = DIV_ROUND_UP(memory, hpagesize);
+    size_t numpages = DIV_ROUND_UP(sz, hpagesize);
     bool use_madv_populate_write;
     struct sigaction act;
 
@@ -530,24 +530,24 @@ void os_mem_prealloc(int fd, char *area, size_t memory, int smp_cpus,
         if (ret) {
             qemu_mutex_unlock(&sigbus_mutex);
             error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
-                "os_mem_prealloc: failed to install signal handler");
+                "qemu_prealloc_mem: failed to install signal handler");
             return;
         }
     }
 
     /* touch pages simultaneously */
-    ret = touch_all_pages(area, hpagesize, numpages, smp_cpus,
+    ret = touch_all_pages(area, hpagesize, numpages, max_threads,
                           use_madv_populate_write);
     if (ret) {
         error_setg_errno(errp, -ret,
-                         "os_mem_prealloc: preallocating memory failed");
+                         "qemu_prealloc_mem: preallocating memory failed");
     }
 
     if (!use_madv_populate_write) {
         ret = sigaction(SIGBUS, &sigbus_oldact, NULL);
         if (ret) {
             /* Terminate QEMU since it can't recover from error */
-            perror("os_mem_prealloc: failed to reinstall signal handler");
+            perror("qemu_prealloc_mem: failed to reinstall signal handler");
             exit(1);
         }
         qemu_mutex_unlock(&sigbus_mutex);
diff --git a/util/oslib-win32.c b/util/oslib-win32.c
index 5723d3eb4c..e1cb725ecc 100644
--- a/util/oslib-win32.c
+++ b/util/oslib-win32.c
@@ -268,14 +268,14 @@ int getpagesize(void)
     return system_info.dwPageSize;
 }
 
-void os_mem_prealloc(int fd, char *area, size_t memory, int smp_cpus,
-                     Error **errp)
+void qemu_prealloc_mem(int fd, char *area, size_t sz, int max_threads,
+                       Error **errp)
 {
     int i;
     size_t pagesize = qemu_real_host_page_size();
 
-    memory = (memory + pagesize - 1) & -pagesize;
-    for (i = 0; i < memory / pagesize; i++) {
+    sz = (sz + pagesize - 1) & -pagesize;
+    for (i = 0; i < sz / pagesize; i++) {
         memset(area + pagesize * i, 0, 1);
     }
 }