diff --git a/Pmodules/Pmodules.conf b/Pmodules/Pmodules.conf
index 5f9230c1d215f18a8e115cbef725255487ca7c9f..fffe8a395fdbc66c2fce438f739d5886c3747aff 100644
--- a/Pmodules/Pmodules.conf
+++ b/Pmodules/Pmodules.conf
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ DefaultGroups='Tools Programming'
 ReleaseStages=':unstable:stable:deprecated:'
 
 # set releases which should be available after initialization
-DefaultUsedReleaseStages='stable'
+DefaultReleaseStages='stable'
diff --git a/Pmodules/modulecmd.bash.in b/Pmodules/modulecmd.bash.in
index 446da1d017f86f13d1b0b3070dc9e8a4d386a2e9..713b7869f2fbe033b34cdb7a7bfa0129605a2c98 100644
--- a/Pmodules/modulecmd.bash.in
+++ b/Pmodules/modulecmd.bash.in
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ save_env() {
         [[ $1 == 'no' ]] && return 0
         local vars=( Version GroupDepths UsedReleases UseFlags UsedGroups )
         vars+=( DefaultGroups ReleaseStages )
-        vars+=( DefaultUsedReleaseStages )
+        vars+=( DefaultReleaseStages )
 
 	local s=$(typeset -p ${vars[@]})
 	declare -g PMODULES_ENV=$( "${base64}" --wrap=0 <<< "$s" )
@@ -1381,7 +1381,7 @@ reset_used_groups() {
 
 reset_used_releases() {
 	declare -g  UsedReleases=''
-	for r in ${DefaultUsedReleaseStages//:/ }; do
+	for r in ${DefaultReleaseStages//:/ }; do
 		std::append_path UsedReleases "${r}"
 	done
         g_env_must_be_saved='yes'
@@ -2288,7 +2288,7 @@ if [[ -n ${PMODULES_ENV} ]]; then
 		declare -g Version="${PMODULES_VERSION}"
 		g_env_must_be_saved='yes'
 	fi
-	if [[ -v DefaultGroups ]] || [[ -v DefaultUsedReleaseStages ]] || [[ -v ReleaseStages ]]; then
+	if [[ -v DefaultGroups ]] || [[ -v DefaultReleaseStages ]] || [[ -v ReleaseStages ]]; then
 		source "${pmodules_config_file}" || \
 			std::die 3 "Oops: cannot parse config file  -- %s\n" \
 				 "${pmodules_config_file}"
diff --git a/Pmodules/profile.csh.in b/Pmodules/profile.csh.in
index 79f20e79ab629d974ed92cd0e370aa2b850701fd..b00013e2e30bcb432c09de1302117a550a43aadf 100755
--- a/Pmodules/profile.csh.in
+++ b/Pmodules/profile.csh.in
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/tcsh
 
 setenv DefaultGroups 'Tools Programming'
-setenv DefaultUsedReleaseStages 'stable'
+setenv DefaultReleaseStages 'stable'
 if ( ! $?PMODULES_VERSION ) then
 	setenv PMODULES_VERSION "@PMODULES_VERSION@"
 endif
diff --git a/Pmodules/profile.zsh.in b/Pmodules/profile.zsh.in
index 4d367750be702eec398ca3aa1c5ede4f7cf8f0a4..8077e79e9d2ff0847f0fecd744bf497b325dd16d 100644
--- a/Pmodules/profile.zsh.in
+++ b/Pmodules/profile.zsh.in
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@
 #
 
 declare -xa DefaultGroups
-declare -xa DefaultUsedReleaseStages
+declare -xa DefaultReleaseStages
 declare -x  PMODULES_VERSION
 
 : ${DefaultGroups:=(Tools Programming)}
-: ${DefaultUsedReleaseStages:=(stable)}
+: ${DefaultReleaseStages:=(stable)}
 : ${PMODULES_VERSION:=@PMODULES_VERSION@}
 
 #############################################################################
diff --git a/Pmodules/zsh b/Pmodules/zsh
index e59c6f80f5a149be4dcc58e385a5c50cf2f2a474..f1a0a4c39b8f8b63d1e86c38b34acca9fccda587 100644
--- a/Pmodules/zsh
+++ b/Pmodules/zsh
@@ -78,14 +78,14 @@ done
 # build initial list of used releases
 declare -x UsedReleases=''
 typeset -T UsedReleases usedreleases
-for r in ${DefaultUsedReleaseStages[@]}; do
+for r in ${DefaultReleaseStages[@]}; do
 	usedreleases=( "${r}" ${(m)usedreleases:#${r}} )
 done
 
-eval $(save_env UsedReleases DefaultUsedReleaseStages DefaultGroups ReleaseStages)
+eval $(save_env UsedReleases DefaultReleaseStages DefaultGroups ReleaseStages)
 
 unset UsedReleases
-unset DefaultUsedReleaseStages
+unset DefaultReleaseStages
 unset DefaultGroups
 unset ReleaseStages
 
diff --git a/config/modbuild.conf.in b/config/modbuild.conf.in
index bbf10326698489c11c42a050c556332eccb93416..cfce2aab9f26d60357ef226acc9974e8dc741cdb 100644
--- a/config/modbuild.conf.in
+++ b/config/modbuild.conf.in
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@ declare -x PMODULES_HOME="${PMODULES_ROOT}/Tools/Pmodules/${PMODULES_VERSION}"
 
 declare -x DefaultGroups='Tools Programming'
 declare    ReleaseStages=':unstable:stable:deprecated:'
-declare    DefaultUsedReleaseStages='stable'
+declare    DefaultReleaseStages='stable'