diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
index 143e980..b8b9262 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
@@ -287,11 +287,16 @@
             entry->fs_mgr_flags.avb = true;
             entry->vbmeta_partition = arg;
         } else if (StartsWith(flag, "keydirectory=")) {
-            // The metadata flag is followed by an = and the directory for the keys.
+            // The keydirectory flag enables metadata encryption.  It is
+            // followed by an = and the directory containing the metadata
+            // encryption key.
             entry->metadata_key_dir = arg;
         } else if (StartsWith(flag, "metadata_encryption=")) {
-            // Specify the cipher and flags to use for metadata encryption
-            entry->metadata_encryption = arg;
+            // The metadata_encryption flag specifies the cipher and flags to
+            // use for metadata encryption, if the defaults aren't sufficient.
+            // It doesn't actually enable metadata encryption; that is done by
+            // "keydirectory".
+            entry->metadata_encryption_options = arg;
         } else if (StartsWith(flag, "sysfs_path=")) {
             // The path to trigger device gc by idle-maint of vold.
             entry->sysfs_path = arg;
diff --git a/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h b/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
index b831d12..f26fb24 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     std::string fs_options;
     std::string fs_checkpoint_opts;
     std::string metadata_key_dir;
-    std::string metadata_encryption;
+    std::string metadata_encryption_options;
     off64_t length = 0;
     std::string label;
     int partnum = -1;
diff --git a/fs_mgr/tests/fs_mgr_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/tests/fs_mgr_test.cpp
index 1dbee75..6c881c0 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/tests/fs_mgr_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/tests/fs_mgr_test.cpp
@@ -943,7 +943,7 @@
     ASSERT_LE(1U, fstab.size());
 
     auto entry = fstab.begin();
-    EXPECT_EQ("adiantum", entry->metadata_encryption);
+    EXPECT_EQ("adiantum", entry->metadata_encryption_options);
 }
 
 TEST(fs_mgr, ReadFstabFromFile_FsMgrOptions_MetadataEncryption_WrappedKey) {
@@ -960,8 +960,8 @@
     ASSERT_LE(1U, fstab.size());
 
     auto entry = fstab.begin();
-    EXPECT_EQ("aes-256-xts:wrappedkey_v0", entry->metadata_encryption);
-    auto parts = android::base::Split(entry->metadata_encryption, ":");
+    EXPECT_EQ("aes-256-xts:wrappedkey_v0", entry->metadata_encryption_options);
+    auto parts = android::base::Split(entry->metadata_encryption_options, ":");
     EXPECT_EQ(2U, parts.size());
     EXPECT_EQ("aes-256-xts", parts[0]);
     EXPECT_EQ("wrappedkey_v0", parts[1]);