diff --git a/src/build/feature.jam b/src/build/feature.jam
index b56f58d78..bc61bfef1 100644
--- a/src/build/feature.jam
+++ b/src/build/feature.jam
@@ -957,7 +957,7 @@ rule compress-subproperties ( properties * )
         if ! $(p:G)
         {
             # Expecting fully-gristed properties.
-            assert.nonempty-variable p:G ;
+            assert.variable-not-empty p:G ;
         }
 
         if ! subfeature in $($(p:G).attributes)
diff --git a/src/kernel/class.jam b/src/kernel/class.jam
index 18e83bac8..b5f5d056c 100644
--- a/src/kernel/class.jam
+++ b/src/kernel/class.jam
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ local rule __test__ ( )
         rule invariant3 ( )
         {
             local v = 10 ;
-            assert.nonempty-variable v ;
+            assert.variable-not-empty v ;
         }
     }
 #    class derived1 : myclass ;
diff --git a/src/util/assert.jam b/src/util/assert.jam
index 0d2546089..53658501a 100644
--- a/src/util/assert.jam
+++ b/src/util/assert.jam
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ rule exact-equal ( a * : b * )
 
 # Assert that the given variable is not an empty list.
 #
-rule nonempty-variable ( name )
+rule variable-not-empty ( name )
 {
     local value = [ modules.peek [ CALLER_MODULE ] : $(name) ] ;
     if ! $(value)-is-not-empty