diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/mailbox.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/mailbox.rst
index 0ed95009cc30..e4ccafdb1e00 100644
--- a/Documentation/driver-api/mailbox.rst
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/mailbox.rst
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Controller Driver (See include/linux/mailbox_controller.h)
 
 
 Allocate mbox_controller and the array of mbox_chan.
-Populate mbox_chan_ops, except peek_data() all are mandatory.
+Populate mbox_chan_ops, except poll_data() all are mandatory.
 The controller driver might know a message has been consumed
 by the remote by getting an IRQ or polling some hardware flag
 or it can never know (the client knows by way of the protocol).
diff --git a/drivers/dma/bcm-sba-raid.c b/drivers/dma/bcm-sba-raid.c
index 64239da02e74..841045ecc449 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/bcm-sba-raid.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/bcm-sba-raid.c
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ static struct sba_request *sba_alloc_request(struct sba_device *sba)
 		 * would have completed which will create more
 		 * room for new requests.
 		 */
-		mbox_client_peek_data(sba->mchan);
+		mbox_client_poll_data(sba->mchan);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ static enum dma_status sba_tx_status(struct dma_chan *dchan,
 	if (ret == DMA_COMPLETE)
 		return ret;
 
-	mbox_client_peek_data(sba->mchan);
+	mbox_client_poll_data(sba->mchan);
 
 	return dma_cookie_status(dchan, cookie, txstate);
 }
diff --git a/drivers/mailbox/bcm-flexrm-mailbox.c b/drivers/mailbox/bcm-flexrm-mailbox.c
index 22acb51531cb..9decb844eff8 100644
--- a/drivers/mailbox/bcm-flexrm-mailbox.c
+++ b/drivers/mailbox/bcm-flexrm-mailbox.c
@@ -1223,7 +1223,7 @@ static int flexrm_send_data(struct mbox_chan *chan, void *data)
 	return flexrm_new_request(ring, NULL, data);
 }
 
-static bool flexrm_peek_data(struct mbox_chan *chan)
+static bool flexrm_poll_data(struct mbox_chan *chan)
 {
 	int cnt = flexrm_process_completions(chan->con_priv);
 
@@ -1449,7 +1449,7 @@ static const struct mbox_chan_ops flexrm_mbox_chan_ops = {
 	.send_data	= flexrm_send_data,
 	.startup	= flexrm_startup,
 	.shutdown	= flexrm_shutdown,
-	.peek_data	= flexrm_peek_data,
+	.poll_data	= flexrm_poll_data,
 };
 
 static struct mbox_chan *flexrm_mbox_of_xlate(struct mbox_controller *cntlr,
diff --git a/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c b/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
index 3e7d4b20ab34..6b13a7047c64 100644
--- a/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
+++ b/drivers/mailbox/mailbox.c
@@ -200,28 +200,25 @@ void mbox_client_txdone(struct mbox_chan *chan, int r)
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mbox_client_txdone);
 
 /**
- * mbox_client_peek_data - A way for client driver to pull data
- *			received from remote by the controller.
+ * mbox_client_poll_data - Poll for pending messages from the remote.
  * @chan: Mailbox channel assigned to this client.
  *
- * A poke to controller driver for any received data.
- * The data is actually passed onto client via the
- * mbox_chan_received_data()
- * The call can be made from atomic context, so the controller's
- * implementation of peek_data() must not sleep.
+ * Asks the controller driver to poll for any available data from the remote.
+ * The data will be synchronously delivered via mbox_chan_received_data().
+ * This call can be made from atomic context, so the controller's
+ * implementation of poll_data() must not sleep.
  *
- * Return: True, if controller has, and is going to push after this,
- *          some data.
- *         False, if controller doesn't have any data to be read.
+ * Return: True if the controller received and has processed some data.
+ *         False if controller didn't have any pending data to read.
  */
-bool mbox_client_peek_data(struct mbox_chan *chan)
+bool mbox_client_poll_data(struct mbox_chan *chan)
 {
-	if (chan->mbox->ops->peek_data)
-		return chan->mbox->ops->peek_data(chan);
+	if (chan->mbox->ops->poll_data)
+		return chan->mbox->ops->poll_data(chan);
 
 	return false;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mbox_client_peek_data);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mbox_client_poll_data);
 
 /**
  * mbox_send_message -	For client to submit a message to be
diff --git a/include/linux/mailbox_client.h b/include/linux/mailbox_client.h
index 65229a45590f..ccfc81748295 100644
--- a/include/linux/mailbox_client.h
+++ b/include/linux/mailbox_client.h
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ struct mbox_chan *mbox_request_channel(struct mbox_client *cl, int index);
 int mbox_send_message(struct mbox_chan *chan, void *mssg);
 int mbox_flush(struct mbox_chan *chan, unsigned long timeout);
 void mbox_client_txdone(struct mbox_chan *chan, int r); /* atomic */
-bool mbox_client_peek_data(struct mbox_chan *chan); /* atomic */
+bool mbox_client_poll_data(struct mbox_chan *chan); /* atomic */
 void mbox_free_channel(struct mbox_chan *chan); /* may sleep */
 
 #endif /* __MAILBOX_CLIENT_H */
diff --git a/include/linux/mailbox_controller.h b/include/linux/mailbox_controller.h
index 36d6ce673503..70d766e623ac 100644
--- a/include/linux/mailbox_controller.h
+++ b/include/linux/mailbox_controller.h
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ struct mbox_chan;
  *		  mode 'send_data' is expected to return -EBUSY.
  *		  The controller may do stuff that need to sleep/block.
  *		  Used only if txdone_poll:=true && txdone_irq:=false
- * @peek_data: Atomic check for any received data. Return true if controller
- *		  has some data to push to the client. False otherwise.
+ * @poll_data:  Poll atomically for received data. Return true if there
+ *		was data available that has been processed. False otherwise.
  */
 struct mbox_chan_ops {
 	int (*send_data)(struct mbox_chan *chan, void *data);
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ struct mbox_chan_ops {
 	int (*startup)(struct mbox_chan *chan);
 	void (*shutdown)(struct mbox_chan *chan);
 	bool (*last_tx_done)(struct mbox_chan *chan);
-	bool (*peek_data)(struct mbox_chan *chan);
+	bool (*poll_data)(struct mbox_chan *chan);
 };
 
 /**
