diff --git a/doc/lxc.container.conf.sgml.in b/doc/lxc.container.conf.sgml.in
index 9b9b210d4..e0697fd1e 100644
--- a/doc/lxc.container.conf.sgml.in
+++ b/doc/lxc.container.conf.sgml.in
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
         </varlistentry>
         <varlistentry>
           <term>
-            <option>lxc.console</option>
+            <option>lxc.console.path</option>
           </term>
           <listitem>
             <para>
@@ -1619,7 +1619,7 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
           <listitem>
             <para>
               The path to the console output of the container if not NULL.
-              [<option>-c</option>] [<option>lxc.console</option>]
+              [<option>-c</option>] [<option>lxc.console.path</option>]
             </para>
           </listitem>
         </varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/lxc/confile.c b/src/lxc/confile.c
index d79c03793..bf1771029 100644
--- a/src/lxc/confile.c
+++ b/src/lxc/confile.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ lxc_config_define(net);
 lxc_config_define(cap_drop);
 lxc_config_define(cap_keep);
 lxc_config_define(console_logfile);
-lxc_config_define(console);
+lxc_config_define(console_path);
 lxc_config_define(seccomp);
 lxc_config_define(includefiles);
 lxc_config_define(autodev);
@@ -232,11 +232,16 @@ static struct lxc_config_t config[] = {
 	{ "lxc.cap.drop",                  set_config_cap_drop,                    get_config_cap_drop,                    clr_config_cap_drop,                  },
 	{ "lxc.cap.keep",                  set_config_cap_keep,                    get_config_cap_keep,                    clr_config_cap_keep,                  },
 	{ "lxc.console.logfile",           set_config_console_logfile,             get_config_console_logfile,             clr_config_console_logfile,           },
-	{ "lxc.console",                   set_config_console,                     get_config_console,                     clr_config_console,                   },
+	{ "lxc.console.path",              set_config_console_path,                get_config_console_path,                clr_config_console_path,              },
 	{ "lxc.seccomp",                   set_config_seccomp,                     get_config_seccomp,                     clr_config_seccomp,                   },
 	{ "lxc.include",                   set_config_includefiles,                get_config_includefiles,                clr_config_includefiles,              },
 	{ "lxc.autodev",                   set_config_autodev,                     get_config_autodev,                     clr_config_autodev,                   },
 
+	/* REMOVE IN LXC 3.0
+	   legacy console key
+	 */
+	{ "lxc.console",                   set_config_console_path,                get_config_console_path,                clr_config_console_path,              },
+
 	/* REMOVE IN LXC 3.0
 	   legacy singal keys
 	 */
@@ -1936,8 +1941,8 @@ static int set_config_cap_drop(const char *key, const char *value,
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int set_config_console(const char *key, const char *value,
-			      struct lxc_conf *lxc_conf, void *data)
+static int set_config_console_path(const char *key, const char *value,
+				   struct lxc_conf *lxc_conf, void *data)
 {
 	return set_config_path_item(&lxc_conf->console.path, value);
 }
@@ -3153,8 +3158,8 @@ static int get_config_cap_keep(const char *key, char *retv, int inlen,
 	return fulllen;
 }
 
-static int get_config_console(const char *key, char *retv, int inlen,
-			      struct lxc_conf *c, void *data)
+static int get_config_console_path(const char *key, char *retv, int inlen,
+				   struct lxc_conf *c, void *data)
 {
 	return lxc_get_conf_str(retv, inlen, c->console.path);
 }
@@ -3508,8 +3513,8 @@ static inline int clr_config_cap_keep(const char *key, struct lxc_conf *c,
 	return lxc_clear_config_keepcaps(c);
 }
 
-static inline int clr_config_console(const char *key, struct lxc_conf *c,
-				     void *data)
+static inline int clr_config_console_path(const char *key, struct lxc_conf *c,
+					  void *data)
 {
 	free(c->console.path);
 	c->console.path = NULL;
diff --git a/src/lxc/criu.c b/src/lxc/criu.c
index 6fa42b246..d9fe2a60d 100644
--- a/src/lxc/criu.c
+++ b/src/lxc/criu.c
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ struct criu_opts {
 	/* The path that is bind mounted from /dev/console, if any. We don't
 	 * want to use `--ext-mount-map auto`'s result here because the pts
 	 * device may have a different path (e.g. if the pty number is
-	 * different) on the target host. NULL if lxc.console = "none".
+	 * different) on the target host. NULL if lxc.console.path = "none".
 	 */
 	char *console_name;
 
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ static int load_tty_major_minor(char *directory, char *output, int len)
 	f = fopen(path, "r");
 	if (!f) {
 		/* This means we're coming from a liblxc which didn't export
-		 * the tty info. In this case they had to have lxc.console =
-		 * none, so there's no problem restoring.
+		 * the tty info. In this case they had to have lxc.console.path
+		 * = * none, so there's no problem restoring.
 		 */
 		if (errno == ENOENT)
 			return 0;
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ static void exec_criu(struct criu_opts *opts)
 
 		if (tty_info[0]) {
 			if (opts->console_fd < 0) {
-				ERROR("lxc.console configured on source host but not target");
+				ERROR("lxc.console.path configured on source host but not target");
 				goto err;
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/tests/lxc-test-checkpoint-restore b/src/tests/lxc-test-checkpoint-restore
index 2adb131e9..09ec1e131 100755
--- a/src/tests/lxc-test-checkpoint-restore
+++ b/src/tests/lxc-test-checkpoint-restore
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ lxc-create -t ubuntu -n $name || FAIL "creating container"
 
 cat >> "$(lxc-config lxc.lxcpath)/$name/config" <<EOF
 # hax for criu
-lxc.console = none
+lxc.console.path = none
 lxc.tty = 0
 lxc.cgroup.devices.deny = c 5:1 rwm
 EOF
diff --git a/src/tests/parse_config_file.c b/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
index bc69b3a16..3461472d8 100644
--- a/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
+++ b/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
@@ -628,13 +628,22 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
-	/* lxc.console */
+	/* REMOVE IN LXC 3.0
+	   legacy lxc.console key
+	 */
 	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.console", "none", tmpf,
 					    true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.console");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
+	/* lxc.console.path */
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.console.path", "none", tmpf,
+					    true) < 0) {
+		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.console.path");
+		goto non_test_error;
+	}
+
 	/* lxc.console.logfile */
 	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.console.logfile",
 					    "/some/logfile", tmpf, true) < 0) {