diff --git a/server/core/config.cc b/server/core/config.cc
index 49ee77719..08f783393 100644
--- a/server/core/config.cc
+++ b/server/core/config.cc
@@ -3480,7 +3480,7 @@ int create_new_monitor(CONFIG_CONTEXT *context, CONFIG_CONTEXT *obj, HASHTABLE*
     char *module = config_get_value(obj->parameters, CN_MODULE);
     if (module)
     {
-        if ((obj->element = monitor_alloc(obj->object, module)) == NULL)
+        if ((obj->element = monitor_create(obj->object, module)) == NULL)
         {
             MXS_ERROR("Failed to create monitor '%s'.", obj->object);
             error_count++;
diff --git a/server/core/config_runtime.cc b/server/core/config_runtime.cc
index 0f3a4c18e..1ef8aca80 100644
--- a/server/core/config_runtime.cc
+++ b/server/core/config_runtime.cc
@@ -937,7 +937,7 @@ bool runtime_create_monitor(const char *name, const char *module)
         {
             MXS_DEBUG("Repurposed monitor '%s'", name);
         }
-        else if ((monitor = monitor_alloc(name, module)) == NULL)
+        else if ((monitor = monitor_create(name, module)) == NULL)
         {
             runtime_error("Could not create monitor '%s' with module '%s'", name, module);
         }
diff --git a/server/core/internal/monitor.h b/server/core/internal/monitor.h
index e4967fe8b..517a9c5e4 100644
--- a/server/core/internal/monitor.h
+++ b/server/core/internal/monitor.h
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ typedef enum
     MONITOR_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS = 3
 } monitor_timeouts_t;
 
-MXS_MONITOR *monitor_alloc(const char *, const char *);
-void monitor_free(MXS_MONITOR *);
+MXS_MONITOR *monitor_create(const char *, const char *);
+void monitor_destroy(MXS_MONITOR *);
 
 void monitor_start(MXS_MONITOR *, const MXS_CONFIG_PARAMETER*);
 void monitor_stop(MXS_MONITOR *);
diff --git a/server/core/monitor.cc b/server/core/monitor.cc
index f12657a54..eb30a654b 100644
--- a/server/core/monitor.cc
+++ b/server/core/monitor.cc
@@ -92,14 +92,14 @@ static unsigned int all_server_bits = SERVER_RUNNING |  SERVER_MAINT |
                                       SERVER_JOINED | SERVER_NDB;
 
 /**
- * Allocate a new monitor, load the associated module for the monitor
+ * Create a new monitor, load the associated module for the monitor
  * and start execution on the monitor.
  *
  * @param name          The name of the monitor module to load
  * @param module        The module to load
  * @return      The newly created monitor
  */
-MXS_MONITOR* monitor_alloc(const char *name, const char *module)
+MXS_MONITOR* monitor_create(const char *name, const char *module)
 {
     char* my_name = MXS_STRDUP(name);
     char *my_module = MXS_STRDUP(module);
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc b/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
index 692d0db2c..3a51dd0ba 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ int test_domain_matching(const char* actual_module,
     /** Create a monitor */
     char *libdir = MXS_STRDUP_A("../../modules/monitor/mariadbmon/");
     set_libdir(libdir);
-    monitor_alloc(name, actual_module);
+    monitor_create(name, actual_module);
 
     const MODULECMD *cmd;