diff --git a/Include/unicodeobject.h b/Include/unicodeobject.h
index c23849a0365982..e9ccb480ded2c7 100644
--- a/Include/unicodeobject.h
+++ b/Include/unicodeobject.h
@@ -254,21 +254,24 @@ PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyUnicode_InternFromString(
 #define PyUnicode_FORMAT_UCS4 0x08
 #define PyUnicode_FORMAT_UTF8 0x10
 
-// Get the content of a string in its native format.
-// - Return the content, set '*size' and '*native_format' on success.
+// Get the content of a string in the requested format:
+// - Return the content, set '*size' and '*format' on success.
 // - Set an exception and return NULL on error.
+//
+// The export must be released by PyUnicode_ReleaseExport().
 PyAPI_FUNC(const void*) PyUnicode_Export(
     PyObject *unicode,
     unsigned int supported_formats,
     Py_ssize_t *size,
     unsigned int *format);
 
-PyAPI_FUNC(void) PyUnicode_FreeExport(
+// Release an export created by PyUnicode_Export().
+PyAPI_FUNC(void) PyUnicode_ReleaseExport(
     PyObject *unicode,
     const void* data,
     unsigned int format);
 
-// Create a string object from a native format string.
+// Create a string object from a string in the format 'format'.
 // - Return a reference to a new string object on success.
 // - Set an exception and return NULL on error.
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject*) PyUnicode_Import(
diff --git a/Modules/_testlimitedcapi/unicode.c b/Modules/_testlimitedcapi/unicode.c
index 360f432fd51a57..306612e726aaab 100644
--- a/Modules/_testlimitedcapi/unicode.c
+++ b/Modules/_testlimitedcapi/unicode.c
@@ -1856,7 +1856,7 @@ unicode_export(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
     }
 
     PyObject *res = Py_BuildValue("y#i", data, size, format);
-    PyUnicode_FreeExport(obj, data, format);
+    PyUnicode_ReleaseExport(obj, data, format);
     return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index 020b0b3bacefd9..19ce47b0b8bfa8 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -2170,7 +2170,8 @@ PyUnicode_Export(PyObject *unicode, unsigned int supported_formats,
 }
 
 void
-PyUnicode_FreeExport(PyObject *unicode, const void* data, unsigned int format)
+PyUnicode_ReleaseExport(PyObject *unicode, const void* data,
+                        unsigned int format)
 {
     switch (format)
     {