diff --git a/src/dwarfs/entry.cpp b/src/dwarfs/entry.cpp
index 2d23db00..62dbc4e8 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/entry.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/entry.cpp
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ void dir::pack_entry(thrift::metadata::metadata& mv2,
   auto& de = mv2.dir_entries_ref()->emplace_back();
   de.name_index = has_parent() ? data.get_name_index(name()) : 0;
   de.inode_num = DWARFS_NOTHROW(inode_num().value());
-  entry::pack(DWARFS_NOTHROW(mv2.entries.at(de.inode_num)), data);
+  entry::pack(DWARFS_NOTHROW(mv2.inodes.at(de.inode_num)), data);
 }
 
 void dir::pack(thrift::metadata::metadata& mv2,
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ void dir::pack(thrift::metadata::metadata& mv2,
     auto& de = mv2.dir_entries_ref()->emplace_back();
     de.name_index = data.get_name_index(e->name());
     de.inode_num = DWARFS_NOTHROW(e->inode_num().value());
-    e->pack(DWARFS_NOTHROW(mv2.entries.at(de.inode_num)), data);
+    e->pack(DWARFS_NOTHROW(mv2.inodes.at(de.inode_num)), data);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp b/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
index b0617f62..f4d2e357 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ std::string_view dir_entry_view::name() const {
 inode_view dir_entry_view::inode() const {
   return std::visit(overloaded{
                         [this](DirEntryView const& dev) {
-                          return inode_view(meta_->entries()[dev.inode_num()],
+                          return inode_view(meta_->inodes()[dev.inode_num()],
                                             dev.inode_num(), meta_);
                         },
                         [this](InodeView const& iv) {
@@ -87,11 +87,10 @@ dir_entry_view::from_dir_entry_index(uint32_t self_index, uint32_t parent_index,
     return dir_entry_view(dev, self_index, parent_index, meta);
   }
 
-  DWARFS_CHECK(self_index < meta->entries().size(), "self_index out of range");
-  DWARFS_CHECK(parent_index < meta->entries().size(),
-               "self_index out of range");
+  DWARFS_CHECK(self_index < meta->inodes().size(), "self_index out of range");
+  DWARFS_CHECK(parent_index < meta->inodes().size(), "self_index out of range");
 
-  auto iv = meta->entries()[self_index];
+  auto iv = meta->inodes()[self_index];
 
   return dir_entry_view(iv, self_index, parent_index, meta);
 }
@@ -108,8 +107,8 @@ dir_entry_view::from_dir_entry_index(uint32_t self_index, Meta const* meta) {
                           meta);
   }
 
-  DWARFS_CHECK(self_index < meta->entries().size(), "self_index out of range");
-  auto iv = meta->entries()[self_index];
+  DWARFS_CHECK(self_index < meta->inodes().size(), "self_index out of range");
+  auto iv = meta->inodes()[self_index];
 
   DWARFS_CHECK(iv.inode_v2_2() < meta->directories().size(),
                "parent_index out of range");
@@ -135,8 +134,8 @@ std::string_view dir_entry_view::name(uint32_t index, Meta const* meta) {
     return meta->names()[dev.name_index()];
   }
 
-  DWARFS_CHECK(index < meta->entries().size(), "index out of range");
-  auto iv = meta->entries()[index];
+  DWARFS_CHECK(index < meta->inodes().size(), "index out of range");
+  auto iv = meta->inodes()[index];
   return meta->names()[iv.name_index_v2_2()];
 }
 
@@ -144,11 +143,11 @@ inode_view dir_entry_view::inode(uint32_t index, Meta const* meta) {
   if (auto de = meta->dir_entries()) {
     DWARFS_CHECK(index < de->size(), "index out of range");
     auto dev = (*de)[index];
-    return inode_view(meta->entries()[dev.inode_num()], dev.inode_num(), meta);
+    return inode_view(meta->inodes()[dev.inode_num()], dev.inode_num(), meta);
   }
 
-  DWARFS_CHECK(index < meta->entries().size(), "index out of range");
-  auto iv = meta->entries()[index];
+  DWARFS_CHECK(index < meta->inodes().size(), "index out of range");
+  auto iv = meta->inodes()[index];
   return inode_view(iv, iv.inode_v2_2(), meta);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp b/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
index 3de5c98f..b543bebf 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ class metadata_ final : public metadata_v2::impl {
       , symlink_table_offset_(find_index_offset(inode_rank::INO_LNK))
       , file_index_offset_(find_index_offset(inode_rank::INO_REG))
       , dev_index_offset_(find_index_offset(inode_rank::INO_DEV))
-      , inode_count_(meta_.dir_entries() ? meta_.entries().size()
+      , inode_count_(meta_.dir_entries() ? meta_.inodes().size()
                                          : meta_.entry_table_v2_2().size())
       , nlinks_(build_nlinks(options))
       , shared_files_(decompress_shared_files())
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ class metadata_ final : public metadata_v2::impl {
     // TODO: move compatibility details to metadata_types
     uint32_t index =
         meta_.dir_entries() ? inode : meta_.entry_table_v2_2()[inode];
-    return inode_view(meta_.entries()[index], inode, &meta_);
+    return inode_view(meta_.inodes()[index], inode, &meta_);
   }
 
   dir_entry_view
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ class metadata_ final : public metadata_v2::impl {
                                                 &meta_);
   }
 
-  // This represents the order in which inodes are stored in entries
+  // This represents the order in which inodes are stored in inodes
   // (or entry_table_v2_2 for older file systems)
   enum class inode_rank {
     INO_DIR,
@@ -305,11 +305,11 @@ class metadata_ final : public metadata_v2::impl {
 
   size_t find_index_offset(inode_rank rank) const {
     if (meta_.dir_entries()) {
-      auto range = boost::irange(size_t(0), meta_.entries().size());
+      auto range = boost::irange(size_t(0), meta_.inodes().size());
 
       auto it = std::lower_bound(
           range.begin(), range.end(), rank, [&](auto inode, inode_rank r) {
-            auto mode = meta_.modes()[meta_.entries()[inode].mode_index()];
+            auto mode = meta_.modes()[meta_.inodes()[inode].mode_index()];
             return get_inode_rank(mode) < r;
           });
 
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ class metadata_ final : public metadata_v2::impl {
           }
         }
       } else {
-        for (auto e : meta_.entries()) {
+        for (auto e : meta_.inodes()) {
           int index = int(e.inode_v2_2()) - file_index_offset_;
           if (index >= 0 && index < int(nlinks.size())) {
             ++nlinks[index];
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ void metadata_<LoggerPolicy>::dump(
   if (detail_level > 1) {
     os << "chunks: " << meta_.chunks().size() << std::endl;
     os << "directories: " << meta_.directories().size() << std::endl;
-    os << "entries: " << meta_.entries().size() << std::endl;
+    os << "inodes: " << meta_.inodes().size() << std::endl;
     os << "chunk_table: " << meta_.chunk_table().size() << std::endl;
     os << "entry_table_v2_2: " << meta_.entry_table_v2_2().size() << std::endl;
     os << "symlink_table: " << meta_.symlink_table().size() << std::endl;
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@ folly::dynamic metadata_<LoggerPolicy>::as_dynamic(dir_entry_view entry) const {
     obj["size"] = file_size(inode_data, mode);
   } else if (S_ISDIR(mode)) {
     obj["type"] = "directory";
-    obj["entries"] = as_dynamic(make_directory_view(inode_data), entry);
+    obj["inodes"] = as_dynamic(make_directory_view(inode_data), entry);
   } else if (S_ISLNK(mode)) {
     obj["type"] = "link";
     obj["target"] = std::string(link_value(inode_data));
@@ -808,8 +808,8 @@ void metadata_<LoggerPolicy>::walk_data_order_impl(
     } else {
       std::sort(entries.begin(), entries.end(),
                 [this](auto const& a, auto const& b) {
-                  return meta_.entries()[a.first].inode_v2_2() <
-                         meta_.entries()[b.first].inode_v2_2();
+                  return meta_.inodes()[a.first].inode_v2_2() <
+                         meta_.inodes()[b.first].inode_v2_2();
                 });
     }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
index 8b3dab1c..59426929 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
@@ -698,7 +698,7 @@ void scanner_<LoggerPolicy>::scan(filesystem_writer& fsw,
 
   LOG_INFO << "saving directories...";
   mv2.set_dir_entries(std::vector<thrift::metadata::dir_entry>());
-  mv2.entries.resize(last_inode);
+  mv2.inodes.resize(last_inode);
   mv2.directories.reserve(first_link_inode + 1);
   save_directories_visitor sdv(first_link_inode);
   root->accept(sdv);
diff --git a/test/dwarfs_compat.cpp b/test/dwarfs_compat.cpp
index 8db10331..2ab68513 100644
--- a/test/dwarfs_compat.cpp
+++ b/test/dwarfs_compat.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ namespace {
 char const* reference = R"(
 {
   "root": {
-    "entries": [
+    "inodes": [
       {
         "inode": 11,
         "mode": 33188,
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ char const* reference = R"(
         "type": "file"
       },
       {
-        "entries": [],
+        "inodes": [],
         "inode": 1,
         "mode": 16877,
         "modestring": "---drwxr-xr-x",
@@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ char const* reference = R"(
         "type": "directory"
       },
       {
-        "entries": [
+        "inodes": [
           {
-            "entries": [],
+            "inodes": [],
             "inode": 3,
             "mode": 16877,
             "modestring": "---drwxr-xr-x",
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ char const* reference = R"(
         "type": "directory"
       },
       {
-        "entries": [
+        "inodes": [
           {
             "inode": 5,
             "mode": 41471,
diff --git a/thrift/metadata.thrift b/thrift/metadata.thrift
index 1ee05635..ff4829dd 100644
--- a/thrift/metadata.thrift
+++ b/thrift/metadata.thrift
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ struct metadata {
     * directory through `first_entry`, where the entries will be between
     * `directories[n].first_entry` and `directories[n+1].first_entry`.
     */
-   3: required list<inode_data> entries,
+   3: required list<inode_data> inodes,
 
    /**
     * Chunk lookup table, indexed by (inode - chunk_index_offset).