diff --git a/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c b/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
index 186b27cb4..10a7ea7d8 100644
--- a/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
+++ b/examples/bdev/fio_plugin/fio_plugin.c
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ spdk_fio_cleanup_thread(struct spdk_fio_thread *fio_thread)
 
 	spdk_set_thread(fio_thread->thread);
 
-	spdk_free_thread(fio_thread->thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(fio_thread->thread);
 	free(fio_thread->iocq);
 	free(fio_thread);
 }
diff --git a/include/spdk/thread.h b/include/spdk/thread.h
index 0d3281f58..6d3d9f356 100644
--- a/include/spdk/thread.h
+++ b/include/spdk/thread.h
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ struct spdk_thread *spdk_thread_create(const char *name);
  * All I/O channel references associated with the thread must be released using
  * spdk_put_io_channel() prior to calling this function.
  */
-void spdk_free_thread(struct spdk_thread *thread);
+void spdk_thread_exit(struct spdk_thread *thread);
 
 /**
  * Perform one iteration worth of processing on the thread. This includes
diff --git a/lib/event/reactor.c b/lib/event/reactor.c
index ef19d75d3..90583f3fe 100644
--- a/lib/event/reactor.c
+++ b/lib/event/reactor.c
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ _spdk_reactor_run(void *arg)
 
 	spdk_set_thread(thread);
 	_spdk_reactor_context_switch_monitor_stop(reactor, NULL);
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/thread/thread.c b/lib/thread/thread.c
index fde543fae..6f428c095 100644
--- a/lib/thread/thread.c
+++ b/lib/thread/thread.c
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ spdk_set_thread(struct spdk_thread *thread)
 }
 
 void
-spdk_free_thread(struct spdk_thread *thread)
+spdk_thread_exit(struct spdk_thread *thread)
 {
 	struct spdk_io_channel *ch;
 
diff --git a/test/common/lib/ut_multithread.c b/test/common/lib/ut_multithread.c
index 94c471ffd..719530fb5 100644
--- a/test/common/lib/ut_multithread.c
+++ b/test/common/lib/ut_multithread.c
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ free_threads(void)
 
 	for (i = 0; i < g_ut_num_threads; i++) {
 		set_thread(i);
-		spdk_free_thread(g_ut_threads[i].thread);
+		spdk_thread_exit(g_ut_threads[i].thread);
 		g_ut_threads[i].thread = NULL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
index 96dc7fd32..cd4094e34 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/blobfs/blobfs_sync_ut/blobfs_sync_ut.c
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ fs_delete_file_without_close(void)
 static void
 terminate_spdk_thread(void *arg)
 {
-	spdk_free_thread(spdk_get_thread());
+	spdk_thread_exit(spdk_get_thread());
 	pthread_exit(NULL);
 }
 
@@ -438,6 +438,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	free(g_dev_buffer);
 	send_request(terminate_spdk_thread, NULL);
 	pthread_join(spdk_tid, NULL);
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 	return num_failures;
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/tcp.c/tcp_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/tcp.c/tcp_ut.c
index c837b0711..fbc345088 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/tcp.c/tcp_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/tcp.c/tcp_ut.c
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ test_nvmf_tcp_create(void)
 	transport = spdk_nvmf_tcp_create(&opts);
 	CU_ASSERT_PTR_NULL(transport);
 
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ test_nvmf_tcp_destroy(void)
 	/* destroy transport */
 	CU_ASSERT(spdk_nvmf_tcp_destroy(transport) == 0);
 
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ test_nvmf_tcp_poll_group_create(void)
 	CU_ASSERT_PTR_NOT_NULL(group);
 	spdk_nvmf_tcp_poll_group_destroy(group);
 
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/thread/thread.c/thread_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/thread/thread.c/thread_ut.c
index 13291d2ca..b15f2d010 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/thread/thread.c/thread_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/thread/thread.c/thread_ut.c
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ thread_name(void)
 	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(thread != NULL);
 	name = spdk_thread_get_name(thread);
 	CU_ASSERT(name != NULL);
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 
 	/* Create thread named "test_thread" */
 	thread = spdk_thread_create("test_thread");
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ thread_name(void)
 	name = spdk_thread_get_name(thread);
 	SPDK_CU_ASSERT_FATAL(name != NULL);
 	CU_ASSERT(strcmp(name, "test_thread") == 0);
-	spdk_free_thread(thread);
+	spdk_thread_exit(thread);
 }
 
 static uint64_t device1;