diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
index ea5f1d475..faa061d5d 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
@@ -62,10 +62,10 @@ bdev_aio_open(struct file_disk *disk)
 {
 	int fd;
 
-	fd = open(disk->file, O_RDWR | O_DIRECT);
+	fd = open(disk->filename, O_RDWR | O_DIRECT);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		/* Try without O_DIRECT for non-disk files */
-		fd = open(disk->file, O_RDWR);
+		fd = open(disk->filename, O_RDWR);
 		if (fd < 0) {
 			perror("open");
 			disk->fd = -1;
@@ -331,12 +331,13 @@ static void aio_free_disk(struct file_disk *fdisk)
 {
 	if (fdisk == NULL)
 		return;
+	free(fdisk->filename);
 	free(fdisk->disk.name);
 	free(fdisk);
 }
 
 struct spdk_bdev *
-create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *fname, uint32_t block_size)
+create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 {
 	struct file_disk *fdisk;
 	uint32_t detected_block_size;
@@ -348,9 +349,13 @@ create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *fname, uint32_t block_size)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	fdisk->file = fname;
+	fdisk->filename = strdup(filename);
+	if (!fdisk->filename) {
+		goto error_return;
+	}
+
 	if (bdev_aio_open(fdisk)) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to open file %s. fd: %d errno: %d\n", fname, fdisk->fd, errno);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to open file %s. fd: %d errno: %d\n", filename, fdisk->fd, errno);
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
index ac3ba07da..38331034a 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ struct bdev_aio_io_channel {
 
 struct file_disk {
 	struct spdk_bdev	disk;
-	const char		*file;
+	char			*filename;
 	int			fd;
 };
 
-struct spdk_bdev *create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *fname, uint32_t block_size);
+struct spdk_bdev *create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size);
 
 #endif // SPDK_BDEV_AIO_H
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
index 609164d2a..7101b7211 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 struct rpc_construct_aio {
 	char *name;
-	char *fname;
+	char *filename;
 	uint32_t block_size;
 };
 
@@ -47,12 +47,13 @@ static void
 free_rpc_construct_aio(struct rpc_construct_aio *req)
 {
 	free(req->name);
-	free(req->fname);
+	free(req->filename);
 }
 
 static const struct spdk_json_object_decoder rpc_construct_aio_decoders[] = {
 	{"name", offsetof(struct rpc_construct_aio, name), spdk_json_decode_string},
-	{"fname", offsetof(struct rpc_construct_aio, fname), spdk_json_decode_string},
+	{"fname", offsetof(struct rpc_construct_aio, filename), spdk_json_decode_string, true}, /* deprecated - use "filename" */
+	{"filename", offsetof(struct rpc_construct_aio, filename), spdk_json_decode_string, true},
 	{"block_size", offsetof(struct rpc_construct_aio, block_size), spdk_json_decode_uint32, true},
 };
 
@@ -71,7 +72,11 @@ spdk_rpc_construct_aio_bdev(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 		goto invalid;
 	}
 
-	bdev = create_aio_disk(req.name, req.fname, req.block_size);
+	if (req.filename == NULL) {
+		goto invalid;
+	}
+
+	bdev = create_aio_disk(req.name, req.filename, req.block_size);
 	if (bdev == NULL) {
 		goto invalid;
 	}
diff --git a/scripts/rpc.py b/scripts/rpc.py
index 6fb332fba..7848776f2 100755
--- a/scripts/rpc.py
+++ b/scripts/rpc.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ p.set_defaults(func=construct_null_bdev)
 
 def construct_aio_bdev(args):
     params = {'name': args.name,
-              'fname': args.fname}
+              'filename': args.filename}
 
     if args.block_size:
         params['block_size'] = args.block_size
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ def construct_aio_bdev(args):
     print_array(jsonrpc_call('construct_aio_bdev', params))
 
 p = subparsers.add_parser('construct_aio_bdev', help='Add a bdev with aio backend')
-p.add_argument('fname', help='Path to device or file (ex: /dev/sda)')
+p.add_argument('filename', help='Path to device or file (ex: /dev/sda)')
 p.add_argument('name', help='Block device name')
 p.add_argument('block_size', help='Block size for this bdev', type=int, default=argparse.SUPPRESS)
 p.set_defaults(func=construct_aio_bdev)