diff --git a/softmmu/qemu-seccomp.c b/softmmu/qemu-seccomp.c
index 377ef6937c..9c29d9cf00 100644
--- a/softmmu/qemu-seccomp.c
+++ b/softmmu/qemu-seccomp.c
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ const struct scmp_arg_cmp sched_setscheduler_arg[] = {
     { .arg = 1, .op = SCMP_CMP_NE, .datum_a = SCHED_IDLE }
 };
 
-static const struct QemuSeccompSyscall blacklist[] = {
-    /* default set of syscalls to blacklist */
+static const struct QemuSeccompSyscall denylist[] = {
+    /* default set of syscalls that should get blocked */
     { SCMP_SYS(reboot),                 QEMU_SECCOMP_SET_DEFAULT },
     { SCMP_SYS(swapon),                 QEMU_SECCOMP_SET_DEFAULT },
     { SCMP_SYS(swapoff),                QEMU_SECCOMP_SET_DEFAULT },
@@ -175,18 +175,18 @@ static int seccomp_start(uint32_t seccomp_opts, Error **errp)
         goto seccomp_return;
     }
 
-    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(blacklist); i++) {
+    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(denylist); i++) {
         uint32_t action;
-        if (!(seccomp_opts & blacklist[i].set)) {
+        if (!(seccomp_opts & denylist[i].set)) {
             continue;
         }
 
-        action = qemu_seccomp_get_action(blacklist[i].set);
-        rc = seccomp_rule_add_array(ctx, action, blacklist[i].num,
-                                    blacklist[i].narg, blacklist[i].arg_cmp);
+        action = qemu_seccomp_get_action(denylist[i].set);
+        rc = seccomp_rule_add_array(ctx, action, denylist[i].num,
+                                    denylist[i].narg, denylist[i].arg_cmp);
         if (rc < 0) {
             error_setg_errno(errp, -rc,
-                             "failed to add seccomp blacklist rules");
+                             "failed to add seccomp denylist rules");
             goto seccomp_return;
         }
     }