diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7df9838..d80fb19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ const User = struct {
     additional_gids_offset: u29,
     // shell is a different story, documented elsewhere.
     shell_here: u1,
-    shell_len_or_place: u6,
+    shell_len_or_idx: u6,
     homedir_len: u6,
     username_is_a_suffix: u1,
     username_offset_or_len: u5,
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ const ShellIndex = struct {
 In the user's struct the `shell_here=true` bit signifies that the shell is
 stored with userdata. `false` means it is stored in the `Shells` section. If
 the shell is stored "here", it is the first element in `stringdata`, and it's
-length is `shell_len_or_place`. If it is stored externally, the latter variable
+length is `shell_len_or_idx`. If it is stored externally, the latter variable
 points to it's index in the ShellIndex area.
 
 Shells in the external storage are sorted by their weight, which is
diff --git a/src/user.zig b/src/user.zig
index 9cbc6e6..d4f264f 100644
--- a/src/user.zig
+++ b/src/user.zig
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ pub const PackedUser = packed struct {
     gid: u32,
     additional_gids_offset: u29,
     shell_here: u1,
-    shell_len_or_place: u6,
+    shell_len_or_idx: u6,
     homedir_len: u6,
     username_is_a_suffix: u1,
     username_offset_or_len: u5,
@@ -44,13 +44,13 @@ pub const UserWriter = struct {
 
     pub fn fromUser(self: *UserWriter, user: User) !PackedUser {
         var shell_here: u1 = undefined;
-        var shell_len_or_place: u6 = undefined;
+        var shell_len_or_idx: u6 = undefined;
         if (self.shellIndexFn(user.shell)) |idx| {
             shell_here = false;
-            shell_len_or_place = idx;
+            shell_len_or_idx = idx;
         } else {
             shell_here = true;
-            shell_len_or_place = user.shell.len;
+            shell_len_or_idx = user.shell.len;
         }
 
         var puser = PackedUser{
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ pub const UserWriter = struct {
             .gid = user.gid,
             .additional_gids_offset = 0, // second pass
             .shell_here = shell_here,
-            .shell_len_or_place = shell_len_or_place,
+            .shell_len_or_idx = shell_len_or_idx,
             .homedir_len = undefined,
             .username_is_a_suffix = undefined,
             .username_offset_or_len = undefined,