diff --git a/hw/vfio/ap.c b/hw/vfio/ap.c
index 8649ac15f9..b51546d67a 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/ap.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/ap.c
@@ -105,12 +105,12 @@ static void vfio_ap_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     vapdev->vdev.dev = dev;
 
     /*
-     * vfio-ap devices operate in a way compatible with
-     * memory ballooning, as no pages are pinned in the host.
-     * This needs to be set before vfio_get_device() for vfio common to
-     * handle the balloon inhibitor.
+     * vfio-ap devices operate in a way compatible discarding of memory in
+     * RAM blocks, as no pages are pinned in the host. This needs to be
+     * set before vfio_get_device() for vfio common to handle
+     * ram_block_discard_set_broken().
      */
-    vapdev->vdev.balloon_allowed = true;
+    vapdev->vdev.ram_block_discard_allowed = true;
 
     ret = vfio_get_device(vfio_group, mdevid, &vapdev->vdev, errp);
     if (ret) {
diff --git a/hw/vfio/ccw.c b/hw/vfio/ccw.c
index 50cc2ec75c..0dd6c3f2ab 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/ccw.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/ccw.c
@@ -425,12 +425,13 @@ static void vfio_ccw_get_device(VFIOGroup *group, VFIOCCWDevice *vcdev,
 
     /*
      * All vfio-ccw devices are believed to operate in a way compatible with
-     * memory ballooning, ie. pages pinned in the host are in the current
-     * working set of the guest driver and therefore never overlap with pages
-     * available to the guest balloon driver.  This needs to be set before
-     * vfio_get_device() for vfio common to handle the balloon inhibitor.
+     * discarding of memory in RAM blocks, ie. pages pinned in the host are
+     * in the current working set of the guest driver and therefore never
+     * overlap e.g., with pages available to the guest balloon driver.  This
+     * needs to be set before vfio_get_device() for vfio common to handle
+     * ram_block_discard_set_broken().
      */
-    vcdev->vdev.balloon_allowed = true;
+    vcdev->vdev.ram_block_discard_allowed = true;
 
     if (vfio_get_device(group, vcdev->cdev.mdevid, &vcdev->vdev, errp)) {
         goto out_err;
diff --git a/hw/vfio/common.c b/hw/vfio/common.c
index 0b3593b3c0..98b2573ae6 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/common.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/common.c
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "qemu/range.h"
-#include "sysemu/balloon.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
 #include "sysemu/reset.h"
 #include "trace.h"
@@ -1215,31 +1214,36 @@ static int vfio_connect_container(VFIOGroup *group, AddressSpace *as,
     space = vfio_get_address_space(as);
 
     /*
-     * VFIO is currently incompatible with memory ballooning insofar as the
+     * VFIO is currently incompatible with discarding of RAM insofar as the
      * madvise to purge (zap) the page from QEMU's address space does not
      * interact with the memory API and therefore leaves stale virtual to
      * physical mappings in the IOMMU if the page was previously pinned.  We
-     * therefore add a balloon inhibit for each group added to a container,
+     * therefore set discarding broken for each group added to a container,
      * whether the container is used individually or shared.  This provides
      * us with options to allow devices within a group to opt-in and allow
-     * ballooning, so long as it is done consistently for a group (for instance
+     * discarding, so long as it is done consistently for a group (for instance
      * if the device is an mdev device where it is known that the host vendor
      * driver will never pin pages outside of the working set of the guest
-     * driver, which would thus not be ballooning candidates).
+     * driver, which would thus not be discarding candidates).
      *
      * The first opportunity to induce pinning occurs here where we attempt to
      * attach the group to existing containers within the AddressSpace.  If any
-     * pages are already zapped from the virtual address space, such as from a
-     * previous ballooning opt-in, new pinning will cause valid mappings to be
+     * pages are already zapped from the virtual address space, such as from
+     * previous discards, new pinning will cause valid mappings to be
      * re-established.  Likewise, when the overall MemoryListener for a new
      * container is registered, a replay of mappings within the AddressSpace
      * will occur, re-establishing any previously zapped pages as well.
      *
-     * NB. Balloon inhibiting does not currently block operation of the
-     * balloon driver or revoke previously pinned pages, it only prevents
-     * calling madvise to modify the virtual mapping of ballooned pages.
+     * Especially virtio-balloon is currently only prevented from discarding
+     * new memory, it will not yet set ram_block_discard_set_required() and
+     * therefore, neither stops us here or deals with the sudden memory
+     * consumption of inflated memory.
      */
-    qemu_balloon_inhibit(true);
+    ret = ram_block_discard_set_broken(true);
+    if (ret) {
+        error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Cannot set discarding of RAM broken");
+        return ret;
+    }
 
     QLIST_FOREACH(container, &space->containers, next) {
         if (!ioctl(group->fd, VFIO_GROUP_SET_CONTAINER, &container->fd)) {
@@ -1405,7 +1409,7 @@ close_fd_exit:
     close(fd);
 
 put_space_exit:
-    qemu_balloon_inhibit(false);
+    ram_block_discard_set_broken(false);
     vfio_put_address_space(space);
 
     return ret;
@@ -1526,8 +1530,8 @@ void vfio_put_group(VFIOGroup *group)
         return;
     }
 
-    if (!group->balloon_allowed) {
-        qemu_balloon_inhibit(false);
+    if (!group->ram_block_discard_allowed) {
+        ram_block_discard_set_broken(false);
     }
     vfio_kvm_device_del_group(group);
     vfio_disconnect_container(group);
@@ -1565,22 +1569,23 @@ int vfio_get_device(VFIOGroup *group, const char *name,
     }
 
     /*
-     * Clear the balloon inhibitor for this group if the driver knows the
-     * device operates compatibly with ballooning.  Setting must be consistent
-     * per group, but since compatibility is really only possible with mdev
-     * currently, we expect singleton groups.
+     * Set discarding of RAM as not broken for this group if the driver knows
+     * the device operates compatibly with discarding.  Setting must be
+     * consistent per group, but since compatibility is really only possible
+     * with mdev currently, we expect singleton groups.
      */
-    if (vbasedev->balloon_allowed != group->balloon_allowed) {
+    if (vbasedev->ram_block_discard_allowed !=
+        group->ram_block_discard_allowed) {
         if (!QLIST_EMPTY(&group->device_list)) {
-            error_setg(errp,
-                       "Inconsistent device balloon setting within group");
+            error_setg(errp, "Inconsistent setting of support for discarding "
+                       "RAM (e.g., balloon) within group");
             close(fd);
             return -1;
         }
 
-        if (!group->balloon_allowed) {
-            group->balloon_allowed = true;
-            qemu_balloon_inhibit(false);
+        if (!group->ram_block_discard_allowed) {
+            group->ram_block_discard_allowed = true;
+            ram_block_discard_set_broken(false);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hw/vfio/pci.c b/hw/vfio/pci.c
index 5e75a95129..88c630c21c 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/pci.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/pci.c
@@ -2796,7 +2796,7 @@ static void vfio_realize(PCIDevice *pdev, Error **errp)
     }
 
     /*
-     * Mediated devices *might* operate compatibly with memory ballooning, but
+     * Mediated devices *might* operate compatibly with discarding of RAM, but
      * we cannot know for certain, it depends on whether the mdev vendor driver
      * stays in sync with the active working set of the guest driver.  Prevent
      * the x-balloon-allowed option unless this is minimally an mdev device.
@@ -2809,7 +2809,7 @@ static void vfio_realize(PCIDevice *pdev, Error **errp)
 
     trace_vfio_mdev(vdev->vbasedev.name, is_mdev);
 
-    if (vdev->vbasedev.balloon_allowed && !is_mdev) {
+    if (vdev->vbasedev.ram_block_discard_allowed && !is_mdev) {
         error_setg(errp, "x-balloon-allowed only potentially compatible "
                    "with mdev devices");
         vfio_put_group(group);
@@ -3163,7 +3163,7 @@ static Property vfio_pci_dev_properties[] = {
                     VFIO_FEATURE_ENABLE_IGD_OPREGION_BIT, false),
     DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("x-no-mmap", VFIOPCIDevice, vbasedev.no_mmap, false),
     DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("x-balloon-allowed", VFIOPCIDevice,
-                     vbasedev.balloon_allowed, false),
+                     vbasedev.ram_block_discard_allowed, false),
     DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("x-no-kvm-intx", VFIOPCIDevice, no_kvm_intx, false),
     DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("x-no-kvm-msi", VFIOPCIDevice, no_kvm_msi, false),
     DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("x-no-kvm-msix", VFIOPCIDevice, no_kvm_msix, false),
diff --git a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
index fd564209ac..c78f3ff559 100644
--- a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
+++ b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ typedef struct VFIODevice {
     bool reset_works;
     bool needs_reset;
     bool no_mmap;
-    bool balloon_allowed;
+    bool ram_block_discard_allowed;
     VFIODeviceOps *ops;
     unsigned int num_irqs;
     unsigned int num_regions;
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ typedef struct VFIOGroup {
     QLIST_HEAD(, VFIODevice) device_list;
     QLIST_ENTRY(VFIOGroup) next;
     QLIST_ENTRY(VFIOGroup) container_next;
-    bool balloon_allowed;
+    bool ram_block_discard_allowed;
 } VFIOGroup;
 
 typedef struct VFIODMABuf {
