diff --git a/include/qom/object_interfaces.h b/include/qom/object_interfaces.h
index 81541e2080..02b11a7ef0 100644
--- a/include/qom/object_interfaces.h
+++ b/include/qom/object_interfaces.h
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ void user_creatable_add_qapi(ObjectOptions *options, Error **errp);
 
 /**
  * user_creatable_parse_str:
- * @optarg: the object definition string as passed on the command line
+ * @str: the object definition string as passed on the command line
  * @errp: if an error occurs, a pointer to an area to store the error
  *
  * Parses the option for the user creatable object with a keyval parser and
@@ -110,14 +110,14 @@ void user_creatable_add_qapi(ObjectOptions *options, Error **errp);
  * Returns: ObjectOptions on success, NULL when an error occurred (*errp is set
  * then) or help was printed (*errp is not set).
  */
-ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp);
+ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *str, Error **errp);
 
 /**
  * user_creatable_add_from_str:
- * @optarg: the object definition string as passed on the command line
+ * @str: the object definition string as passed on the command line
  * @errp: if an error occurs, a pointer to an area to store the error
  *
- * Create an instance of the user creatable object by parsing optarg
+ * Create an instance of the user creatable object by parsing @str
  * with a keyval parser and implicit key 'qom-type', converting the
  * result to ObjectOptions and calling into qmp_object_add().
  *
@@ -126,13 +126,13 @@ ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp);
  * Returns: true when an object was successfully created, false when an error
  * occurred (*errp is set then) or help was printed (*errp is not set).
  */
-bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp);
+bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *str, Error **errp);
 
 /**
  * user_creatable_process_cmdline:
- * @optarg: the object definition string as passed on the command line
+ * @cmdline: the object definition string as passed on the command line
  *
- * Create an instance of the user creatable object by parsing optarg
+ * Create an instance of the user creatable object by parsing @cmdline
  * with a keyval parser and implicit key 'qom-type', converting the
  * result to ObjectOptions and calling into qmp_object_add().
  *
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp);
  * This function is only meant to be called during command line parsing.
  * It exits the process on failure or after printing help.
  */
-void user_creatable_process_cmdline(const char *optarg);
+void user_creatable_process_cmdline(const char *cmdline);
 
 /**
  * user_creatable_print_help:
diff --git a/qom/object_interfaces.c b/qom/object_interfaces.c
index 7d31589b04..e0833c8bfe 100644
--- a/qom/object_interfaces.c
+++ b/qom/object_interfaces.c
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ static void user_creatable_print_help_from_qdict(QDict *args)
     }
 }
 
-ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp)
+ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *str, Error **errp)
 {
     ERRP_GUARD();
     QObject *obj;
@@ -267,14 +267,14 @@ ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp)
     Visitor *v;
     ObjectOptions *options;
 
-    if (optarg[0] == '{') {
-        obj = qobject_from_json(optarg, errp);
+    if (str[0] == '{') {
+        obj = qobject_from_json(str, errp);
         if (!obj) {
             return NULL;
         }
         v = qobject_input_visitor_new(obj);
     } else {
-        QDict *args = keyval_parse(optarg, "qom-type", &help, errp);
+        QDict *args = keyval_parse(str, "qom-type", &help, errp);
         if (*errp) {
             return NULL;
         }
@@ -295,12 +295,12 @@ ObjectOptions *user_creatable_parse_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp)
     return options;
 }
 
-bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp)
+bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *str, Error **errp)
 {
     ERRP_GUARD();
     ObjectOptions *options;
 
-    options = user_creatable_parse_str(optarg, errp);
+    options = user_creatable_parse_str(str, errp);
     if (!options) {
         return false;
     }
@@ -310,9 +310,9 @@ bool user_creatable_add_from_str(const char *optarg, Error **errp)
     return !*errp;
 }
 
-void user_creatable_process_cmdline(const char *optarg)
+void user_creatable_process_cmdline(const char *cmdline)
 {
-    if (!user_creatable_add_from_str(optarg, &error_fatal)) {
+    if (!user_creatable_add_from_str(cmdline, &error_fatal)) {
         /* Help was printed */
         exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
     }
