diff --git a/src/accesscontrol.js b/src/accesscontrol.js
index 54ea6a431..6f4aee42f 100644
--- a/src/accesscontrol.js
+++ b/src/accesscontrol.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
     validateRoles: validateRoles,
 
-    validateScope: validateScope,
+    validateScopeString: validateScopeString,
     hasScopes: hasScopes,
     intersectScope: intersectScope,
     canonicalScope: canonicalScope
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ function validateRoles(roles) {
     return new Error('Invalid role');
 }
 
-function validateScope(scope) {
+function validateScopeString(scope) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof scope, 'string');
 
     if (scope === '') return new Error('Empty scope not allowed');
diff --git a/src/clients.js b/src/clients.js
index b578f23e4..cbcdf06f6 100644
--- a/src/clients.js
+++ b/src/clients.js
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ function add(appId, type, redirectURI, scope, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof scope, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    var error = accesscontrol.validateScope(scope);
+    var error = accesscontrol.validateScopeString(scope);
     if (error) return callback(new ClientsError(ClientsError.INVALID_SCOPE, error.message));
 
     error = validateName(appId);
diff --git a/src/test/accesscontrol-test.js b/src/test/accesscontrol-test.js
index 1dc5275b7..feb7ab5aa 100644
--- a/src/test/accesscontrol-test.js
+++ b/src/test/accesscontrol-test.js
@@ -46,18 +46,18 @@ describe('access control', function () {
         });
     });
 
-    describe('validateScope', function () {
+    describe('validateScopeString', function () {
         it('allows valid scopes', function () {
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('apps')).to.be(null);
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('apps,mail')).to.be(null);
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('apps:read,mail')).to.be(null);
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('apps,mail:write')).to.be(null);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('apps')).to.be(null);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('apps,mail')).to.be(null);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('apps:read,mail')).to.be(null);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('apps,mail:write')).to.be(null);
         });
 
         it('disallows invalid scopes', function () {
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('apps, mail')).to.be.an(Error);
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('random')).to.be.an(Error);
-            expect(accesscontrol.validateScope('')).to.be.an(Error);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('apps, mail')).to.be.an(Error);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('random')).to.be.an(Error);
+            expect(accesscontrol.validateScopeString('')).to.be.an(Error);
         });
     });