diff --git a/src/drivers/drv_orb_dev.h b/src/drivers/drv_orb_dev.h
index 060704deaa..42f8e0c35a 100644
--- a/src/drivers/drv_orb_dev.h
+++ b/src/drivers/drv_orb_dev.h
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 /** Get the minimum interval at which the topic can be seen to be updated for this subscription */
 #define ORBIOCGETINTERVAL	_ORBIOC(16)
 
-/** Check whether the topic is published, sets *(unsigned long *)arg to 1 if published, 0 otherwise */
-#define ORBIOCISPUBLISHED	_ORBIOC(17)
+/** Check whether the topic is advertised, sets *(unsigned long *)arg to 1 if advertised, 0 otherwise */
+#define ORBIOCISADVERTISED	_ORBIOC(17)
 
 #endif /* _DRV_UORB_H */
diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceMaster.cpp b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceMaster.cpp
index 6ccdc4d016..b792e0cf1d 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceMaster.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceMaster.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ uORB::DeviceMaster::advertise(const struct orb_metadata *meta, int *instance, in
 				 * something has been published yet. */
 				uORB::DeviceNode *existing_node = getDeviceNodeLocked(meta, group_tries);
 
-				if ((existing_node != nullptr) && !(existing_node->is_published())) {
+				if (existing_node != nullptr && !existing_node->is_advertised()) {
 					/* nothing has been published yet, lets claim it */
 					existing_node->set_priority(priority);
 					ret = PX4_OK;
diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.cpp b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.cpp
index 2d78787663..b08627daa2 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.cpp
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ uORB::DeviceNode::write(cdev::file_t *filp, const char *buffer, size_t buflen)
 	/* wrap-around happens after ~49 days, assuming a publisher rate of 1 kHz */
 	_generation++;
 
-	_published = true;
+	_advertised = true;
 
 	ATOMIC_LEAVE;
 
@@ -368,8 +368,8 @@ uORB::DeviceNode::ioctl(cdev::file_t *filp, int cmd, unsigned long arg)
 
 		return OK;
 
-	case ORBIOCISPUBLISHED:
-		*(unsigned long *)arg = _published;
+	case ORBIOCISADVERTISED:
+		*(unsigned long *)arg = _advertised;
 
 		return OK;
 
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ int uORB::DeviceNode::unadvertise(orb_advert_t handle)
 	 * of subscribers and publishers. But we also do not have a leak since future
 	 * publishers reuse the same DeviceNode object.
 	 */
-	devnode->_published = false;
+	devnode->_advertised = false;
 
 	return PX4_OK;
 }
diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.hpp b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.hpp
index 9e5c9916a1..03d5077b78 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.hpp
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORBDeviceNode.hpp
@@ -156,11 +156,11 @@ public:
 	void remove_internal_subscriber();
 
 	/**
-	 * Return true if this topic has been published.
+	 * Return true if this topic has been advertised.
 	 *
 	 * This is used in the case of multi_pub/sub to check if it's valid to advertise
 	 * and publish to this node or if another node should be tried. */
-	bool is_published() const { return _published; }
+	bool is_advertised() const { return _advertised; }
 
 	/**
 	 * Try to change the size of the queue. This can only be done as long as nobody published yet.
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ private:
 	hrt_abstime   _last_update{0}; /**< time the object was last updated */
 	volatile unsigned   _generation{0};  /**< object generation count */
 	uint8_t   _priority;  /**< priority of the topic */
-	bool _published{false};  /**< has ever data been published */
+	bool _advertised{false};  /**< has ever been advertised (not necessarily published data yet) */
 	uint8_t _queue_size; /**< maximum number of elements in the queue */
 	int8_t _subscriber_count{0};
 
diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORBManager.cpp b/src/modules/uORB/uORBManager.cpp
index 20c9bf8432..1d11513404 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORBManager.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORBManager.cpp
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ int uORB::Manager::orb_exists(const struct orb_metadata *meta, int instance)
 		uORB::DeviceNode *node = _device_master->getDeviceNode(meta, instance);
 
 		if (node != nullptr) {
-			if (node->is_published()) {
+			if (node->is_advertised()) {
 				return PX4_OK;
 			}
 		}
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ int uORB::Manager::orb_exists(const struct orb_metadata *meta, int instance)
 		int fd = px4_open(path, 0);
 
 		if (fd >= 0) {
-			unsigned long is_published;
+			unsigned long is_advertised;
 
-			if (px4_ioctl(fd, ORBIOCISPUBLISHED, (unsigned long)&is_published) == 0) {
-				if (!is_published) {
+			if (px4_ioctl(fd, ORBIOCISADVERTISED, (unsigned long)&is_advertised) == 0) {
+				if (!is_advertised) {
 					ret = PX4_ERROR;
 				}
 			}