diff --git a/fs/super.c b/fs/super.c
index 645e5403f2a0da0b4ed97cd6b6499791c732338d..61dce001dd572ef74685c42b0a1b83fa7307703b 100644
--- a/fs/super.c
+++ b/fs/super.c
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ void generic_shutdown_super(struct super_block *sb)
 		/*
 		 * wait for asynchronous fs operations to finish before going further
 		 */
-		async_synchronize_full_special(&sb->s_async_list);
+		async_synchronize_full_domain(&sb->s_async_list);
 
 		/* bad name - it should be evict_inodes() */
 		invalidate_inodes(sb);
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ void sync_filesystems(int wait)
 		sb->s_count++;
 		spin_unlock(&sb_lock);
 		down_read(&sb->s_umount);
-		async_synchronize_full_special(&sb->s_async_list);
+		async_synchronize_full_domain(&sb->s_async_list);
 		if (sb->s_root && (wait || sb->s_dirt))
 			sb->s_op->sync_fs(sb, wait);
 		up_read(&sb->s_umount);
diff --git a/include/linux/async.h b/include/linux/async.h
index c4ecacd0b32771729e68b9b30f766ae55a42a8c6..68a9530196f299c518856e6e4926376fcc4560cf 100644
--- a/include/linux/async.h
+++ b/include/linux/async.h
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ typedef u64 async_cookie_t;
 typedef void (async_func_ptr) (void *data, async_cookie_t cookie);
 
 extern async_cookie_t async_schedule(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data);
-extern async_cookie_t async_schedule_special(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data, struct list_head *list);
+extern async_cookie_t async_schedule_domain(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data,
+					    struct list_head *list);
 extern void async_synchronize_full(void);
-extern void async_synchronize_full_special(struct list_head *list);
+extern void async_synchronize_full_domain(struct list_head *list);
 extern void async_synchronize_cookie(async_cookie_t cookie);
-extern void async_synchronize_cookie_special(async_cookie_t cookie, struct list_head *list);
+extern void async_synchronize_cookie_domain(async_cookie_t cookie,
+					    struct list_head *list);
 
diff --git a/kernel/async.c b/kernel/async.c
index b5f0d4b949379fb2d6d1d4623d41ca93b3a5ee8a..e23399d88bac44aef003fb12937ac3a407af2e32 100644
--- a/kernel/async.c
+++ b/kernel/async.c
@@ -224,22 +224,23 @@ async_cookie_t async_schedule(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data)
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_schedule);
 
 /**
- * async_schedule_special - schedule a function for asynchronous execution with a special running queue
+ * async_schedule_domain - schedule a function for asynchronous execution within a certain domain
  * @ptr: function to execute asynchronously
  * @data: data pointer to pass to the function
- * @running: list head to add to while running
+ * @running: running list for the domain
  *
  * Returns an async_cookie_t that may be used for checkpointing later.
- * @running may be used in the async_synchronize_*_special() functions
- * to wait on a special running queue rather than on the global running
- * queue.
+ * @running may be used in the async_synchronize_*_domain() functions
+ * to wait within a certain synchronization domain rather than globally.
+ * A synchronization domain is specified via the running queue @running to use.
  * Note: This function may be called from atomic or non-atomic contexts.
  */
-async_cookie_t async_schedule_special(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data, struct list_head *running)
+async_cookie_t async_schedule_domain(async_func_ptr *ptr, void *data,
+				     struct list_head *running)
 {
 	return __async_schedule(ptr, data, running);
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_schedule_special);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_schedule_domain);
 
 /**
  * async_synchronize_full - synchronize all asynchronous function calls
@@ -255,27 +256,29 @@ void async_synchronize_full(void)
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_full);
 
 /**
- * async_synchronize_full_special - synchronize all asynchronous function calls for a running list
+ * async_synchronize_full_domain - synchronize all asynchronous function within a certain domain
  * @list: running list to synchronize on
  *
- * This function waits until all asynchronous function calls for the running
- * list @list have been done.
+ * This function waits until all asynchronous function calls for the
+ * synchronization domain specified by the running list @list have been done.
  */
-void async_synchronize_full_special(struct list_head *list)
+void async_synchronize_full_domain(struct list_head *list)
 {
-	async_synchronize_cookie_special(next_cookie, list);
+	async_synchronize_cookie_domain(next_cookie, list);
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_full_special);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_full_domain);
 
 /**
- * async_synchronize_cookie_special - synchronize asynchronous function calls on a running list with cookie checkpointing
+ * async_synchronize_cookie_domain - synchronize asynchronous function calls within a certain domain with cookie checkpointing
  * @cookie: async_cookie_t to use as checkpoint
  * @running: running list to synchronize on
  *
- * This function waits until all asynchronous function calls for the running
- * list @list submitted prior to @cookie have been done.
+ * This function waits until all asynchronous function calls for the
+ * synchronization domain specified by the running list @list submitted
+ * prior to @cookie have been done.
  */
-void async_synchronize_cookie_special(async_cookie_t cookie, struct list_head *running)
+void async_synchronize_cookie_domain(async_cookie_t cookie,
+				     struct list_head *running)
 {
 	ktime_t starttime, delta, endtime;
 
@@ -295,7 +298,7 @@ void async_synchronize_cookie_special(async_cookie_t cookie, struct list_head *r
 			(long long)ktime_to_ns(delta) >> 10);
 	}
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_cookie_special);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_cookie_domain);
 
 /**
  * async_synchronize_cookie - synchronize asynchronous function calls with cookie checkpointing
@@ -306,7 +309,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_cookie_special);
  */
 void async_synchronize_cookie(async_cookie_t cookie)
 {
-	async_synchronize_cookie_special(cookie, &async_running);
+	async_synchronize_cookie_domain(cookie, &async_running);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(async_synchronize_cookie);