diff --git a/libavcodec/avcodec.h b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
index 5ec0d1c9ba..ffc08f50e6 100644
--- a/libavcodec/avcodec.h
+++ b/libavcodec/avcodec.h
@@ -2563,7 +2563,7 @@ unsigned avcodec_version(void);
  */
 void avcodec_init(void);
 
-void register_avcodec(AVCodec *format);
+void register_avcodec(AVCodec *codec);
 
 /**
  * Finds a registered encoder with a matching codec ID.
diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index 9b16571f56..755af1ac62 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -87,13 +87,13 @@ AVCodec *av_codec_next(AVCodec *c){
     else  return first_avcodec;
 }
 
-void register_avcodec(AVCodec *format)
+void register_avcodec(AVCodec *codec)
 {
     AVCodec **p;
     p = &first_avcodec;
     while (*p != NULL) p = &(*p)->next;
-    *p = format;
-    format->next = NULL;
+    *p = codec;
+    codec->next = NULL;
 }
 
 void avcodec_set_dimensions(AVCodecContext *s, int width, int height){