diff --git a/src/cron.js b/src/cron.js
index 9adc8ed37..3bb64212d 100644
--- a/src/cron.js
+++ b/src/cron.js
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ async function handleAutoupdatePatternChanged(pattern) {
             // do box before app updates. for the off chance that the box logic fixes some app update logic issue
             if (updateInfo.box && !updateInfo.box.unstable) {
                 debug('Starting box autoupdate to %j', updateInfo.box.version);
-                const [error] = await safe(updater.updateToLatest({ skipBackup: false }, AuditSource.CRON));
+                const [error] = await safe(updater.startBoxUpdateTask({ skipBackup: false }, AuditSource.CRON));
                 if (!error) return; // do not start app updates when a box update got scheduled
                 debug(`Failed to start box autoupdate task: ${error.message}`);
                 // fall through to update apps if box update never started (failed ubuntu or avx check)
diff --git a/src/platform.js b/src/platform.js
index e6f11748b..f666e5080 100644
--- a/src/platform.js
+++ b/src/platform.js
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ async function initialize() {
         await safe(reverseProxy.writeDefaultConfig({ activated: false }), { debug }); // ok to fail if no disk space
     }
 
-    await updater.notifyUpdate();
+    await updater.notifyBoxUpdate();
 
     if (await users.isActivated()) safe(onActivated({ skipDnsSetup: false }), { debug }); // run in background
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/updater.js b/src/routes/updater.js
index 85500797d..111fb910d 100644
--- a/src/routes/updater.js
+++ b/src/routes/updater.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ async function update(req, res, next) {
     if ('skipBackup' in req.body && typeof req.body.skipBackup !== 'boolean') return next(new HttpError(400, 'skipBackup must be a boolean'));
 
     // this only initiates the update, progress can be checked via the progress route
-    const [error, taskId] = await safe(updater.updateToLatest(req.body, AuditSource.fromRequest(req)));
+    const [error, taskId] = await safe(updater.startBoxUpdateTask(req.body, AuditSource.fromRequest(req)));
     if (error && error.reason === BoxError.NOT_FOUND) return next(new HttpError(422, error.message));
     if (error && error.reason === BoxError.BAD_STATE) return next(new HttpError(409, error.message));
     if (error) return next(new HttpError(500, error));
diff --git a/src/tasks.js b/src/tasks.js
index b6c9182f9..fdc743660 100644
--- a/src/tasks.js
+++ b/src/tasks.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     // task types. if you add a task here, fill up the function table in taskworker and dashboard client.js
     TASK_APP: 'app',
     TASK_BACKUP: 'backup',
-    TASK_UPDATE: 'update',
+    TASK_BOX_UPDATE: 'boxUpdate',
     TASK_CHECK_CERTS: 'checkCerts',
     TASK_SYNC_DYNDNS: 'syncDyndns',
     TASK_PREPARE_DASHBOARD_LOCATION: 'prepareDashboardLocation',
diff --git a/src/taskworker.js b/src/taskworker.js
index b2fe76b2d..af37a9ca3 100755
--- a/src/taskworker.js
+++ b/src/taskworker.js
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ const apptask = require('./apptask.js'),
 const TASKS = { // indexed by task type
     app: apptask.run,
     backup: backuptask.fullBackup,
-    update: updater.update,
+    boxUpdate: updater.updateBox,
     checkCerts: reverseProxy.checkCerts,
     prepareDashboardLocation: dashboard.prepareLocation,
     cleanBackups: backupCleaner.run,
diff --git a/src/updater.js b/src/updater.js
index b20659031..763c4d502 100644
--- a/src/updater.js
+++ b/src/updater.js
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     setAutoupdatePattern,
     getAutoupdatePattern,
 
-    updateToLatest,
-    update,
+    startBoxUpdateTask,
+    updateBox,
 
-    notifyUpdate
+    notifyBoxUpdate
 };
 
 const apps = require('./apps.js'),
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ async function checkFreeDiskSpace(neededSpace) {
     if (diskUsage.available < neededSpace) throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, `Not enough disk space. Updates require at least 2GB of free space. Available: ${df.prettyBytes(diskUsage.available)}`);
 }
 
-async function update(boxUpdateInfo, options, progressCallback) {
+async function updateBox(boxUpdateInfo, options, progressCallback) {
     assert(boxUpdateInfo && typeof boxUpdateInfo === 'object');
     assert(options && typeof options === 'object');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof progressCallback, 'function');
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ async function checkUpdateRequirements(boxUpdateInfo) {
     }
 }
 
-async function updateToLatest(options, auditSource) {
+async function startBoxUpdateTask(options, auditSource) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof options, 'object');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof auditSource, 'object');
 
@@ -213,12 +213,12 @@ async function updateToLatest(options, auditSource) {
     const backupConfig = await backups.getConfig();
     const memoryLimit = backupConfig.limits?.memoryLimit ? Math.max(backupConfig.limits.memoryLimit/1024/1024, 400) : 400;
 
-    const taskId = await tasks.add(tasks.TASK_UPDATE, [ boxUpdateInfo, options ]);
+    const taskId = await tasks.add(tasks.TASK_BOX_UPDATE, [ boxUpdateInfo, options ]);
     await eventlog.add(eventlog.ACTION_UPDATE, auditSource, { taskId, boxUpdateInfo });
 
     // background
     tasks.startTask(taskId, { timeout: 20 * 60 * 60 * 1000 /* 20 hours */, nice: 15, memoryLimit })
-        .then(() => debug('updateToLatest: internal error. impossible code path'))
+        .then(() => debug('startBoxUpdateTask: internal error. impossible code path'))
         .catch(async (error) => {
             debug('Update failed with error. %o', error);
 
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ async function updateToLatest(options, auditSource) {
     return taskId;
 }
 
-async function notifyUpdate() {
+async function notifyBoxUpdate() {
     const version = safe.fs.readFileSync(paths.VERSION_FILE, 'utf8');
     if (version === constants.VERSION) return;