diff --git a/debian/mariadb-server.postinst b/debian/mariadb-server.postinst
index 298f551fdcf..b8090ee3d26 100644
--- a/debian/mariadb-server.postinst
+++ b/debian/mariadb-server.postinst
@@ -60,11 +60,11 @@ case "$1" in
       fi
     fi
 
-    mysql_statedir=/usr/share/mariadb
-    mysql_datadir=/var/lib/mysql
-    mysql_logdir=/var/log/mysql
-    mysql_cfgdir=/etc/mysql
-    mysql_upgradedir=/var/lib/mysql-upgrade
+    mariadb_statedir=/usr/share/mariadb
+    mariadb_datadir=/var/lib/mysql
+    mariadb_logdir=/var/log/mysql
+    mariadb_cfgdir=/etc/mysql
+    mariadb_upgradedir=/var/lib/mysql-upgrade
 
     # If the following symlink exists, it is a preserved copy the old data dir
     # created by the preinst script during a upgrade that would have otherwise
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ case "$1" in
 
       if [ "$dir" = "DATADIR" ]
       then
-        targetdir=$mysql_datadir
+        targetdir=$mariadb_datadir
       else
-        targetdir=$mysql_logdir
+        targetdir=$mariadb_logdir
       fi
 
-      savelink="$mysql_upgradedir/$dir.link"
+      savelink="$mariadb_upgradedir/$dir.link"
       if [ -L "$savelink" ]
       then
         # If the targetdir was a symlink before we upgraded it is supposed
@@ -92,10 +92,10 @@ case "$1" in
           mv "$savelink" "$targetdir"
         else
           # this should never even happen, but just in case...
-          mysql_tmp=$(mktemp -d -t mysql-symlink-restore-XXXXXX)
-          echo "this is very strange!  see $mysql_tmp/README..." >&2
-          mv "$targetdir" "$mysql_tmp"
-          cat << EOF > "$mysql_tmp/README"
+          mariadb_tmp=$(mktemp -d -t mariadb-symlink-restore-XXXXXX)
+          echo "this is very strange!  see $mariadb_tmp/README..." >&2
+          mv "$targetdir" "$mariadb_tmp"
+          cat << EOF > "$mariadb_tmp/README"
 
 If you're reading this, it's most likely because you had replaced /var/lib/mysql
 with a symlink, then upgraded to a new version of mysql, and then dpkg
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ this all away.
 EOF
         fi
       fi
-      rmdir $mysql_upgradedir 2>/dev/null || true
+      rmdir $mariadb_upgradedir 2>/dev/null || true
 
     done
 
@@ -122,10 +122,10 @@ EOF
     # This direct update is needed to enable an authentication mechanism to
     # perform mariadb-upgrade, (MDEV-22678).  To keep the impact minimal, we
     # skip innodb and set key-buffer-size to 0 as it isn't reused.
-    if [ -f "$mysql_datadir/auto.cnf" ] &&
-    [ -f "$mysql_datadir/mysql/user.MYD" ] &&
-    ! lsof -nt "$mysql_datadir"/mysql/user.MYD > /dev/null &&
-    [ ! -f "$mysql_datadir/undo_001" ]
+    if [ -f "$mariadb_datadir/auto.cnf" ] &&
+    [ -f "$mariadb_datadir/mysql/user.MYD" ] &&
+    ! lsof -nt "$mariadb_datadir"/mysql/user.MYD > /dev/null &&
+    [ ! -f "$mariadb_datadir/undo_001" ]
     then
       echo "UPDATE mysql.user SET plugin='unix_socket' WHERE plugin='auth_socket';" |
       mariadbd --skip-innodb --key_buffer_size=0  --default-storage-engine=MyISAM --bootstrap 2> /dev/null
@@ -133,27 +133,27 @@ EOF
 
     # Ensure the existence and right permissions for the database and
     # log files. Use mkdir option 'Z' to create with correct SELinux context.
-    if [ ! -d "$mysql_statedir" ] && [ ! -L "$mysql_statedir" ]
+    if [ ! -d "$mariadb_statedir" ] && [ ! -L "$mariadb_statedir" ]
     then
-      mkdir -Z "$mysql_statedir"
+      mkdir -Z "$mariadb_statedir"
     fi
-    if [ ! -d "$mysql_datadir"  ] && [ ! -L "$mysql_datadir" ]
+    if [ ! -d "$mariadb_datadir"  ] && [ ! -L "$mariadb_datadir" ]
     then
-      mkdir -Z "$mysql_datadir"
+      mkdir -Z "$mariadb_datadir"
     fi
-    if [ ! -d "$mysql_logdir"   ] && [ ! -L "$mysql_logdir"  ]
+    if [ ! -d "$mariadb_logdir"   ] && [ ! -L "$mariadb_logdir"  ]
     then
-      mkdir -Z "$mysql_logdir"
+      mkdir -Z "$mariadb_logdir"
     fi
     # When creating an ext3 jounal on an already mounted filesystem like e.g.
     # /var/lib/mysql, you get a .journal file that is not modifiable by chown.
-    # The mysql_statedir must not be writable by the mysql user under any
+    # The mariadb_statedir must not be writable by the mysql user under any
     # circumstances as it contains scripts that are executed by root.
     set +e
-    chown -R 0:0 $mysql_statedir
-    find $mysql_datadir ! -uid "$(id -u mysql)" -print0 | xargs -0 -r chown mysql
-    chown -R mysql:adm $mysql_logdir
-    chmod 2750 $mysql_logdir
+    chown -R 0:0 $mariadb_statedir
+    find $mariadb_datadir ! -uid "$(id -u mysql)" -print0 | xargs -0 -r chown mysql
+    chown -R mysql:adm $mariadb_logdir
+    chmod 2750 $mariadb_logdir
     set -e
 
     ## Set the correct filesystem ownership for the PAM v2 plugin
@@ -176,14 +176,14 @@ EOF
     chown mysql /usr/lib/mysql/plugin/auth_pam_tool_dir
 
     # This is important to avoid dataloss when there is a removed
-    # mysql-server version from Woody lying around which used the same
+    # mariadb-server version from Woody lying around which used the same
     # data directory and then somehow gets purged by the admin.
     db_set mariadb-server/postrm_remove_database false || true
 
     # Clean up old flags before setting new one
-    rm -f $mysql_datadir/debian-*.flag
+    rm -f $mariadb_datadir/debian-*.flag
     # Flag data dir to avoid downgrades
-    touch "$mysql_datadir/debian-__MARIADB_MAJOR_VER__.flag"
+    touch "$mariadb_datadir/debian-__MARIADB_MAJOR_VER__.flag"
 
     # initiate databases. Output is not allowed by debconf :-(
     # This will fail if we are upgrading an existing database; in this case
@@ -205,10 +205,10 @@ EOF
     # --defaults-file option for tools (for the sake of upgrades)
     # and thus need /etc/mysql/debian.cnf to exist, even if it's empty.
     # In the long run the goal is to obsolete this file.
-    dc="$mysql_cfgdir/debian.cnf"
-    if [ ! -d "$mysql_cfgdir" ]
+    dc="$mariadb_cfgdir/debian.cnf"
+    if [ ! -d "$mariadb_cfgdir" ]
     then
-      install -o 0 -g 0 -m 0755 -d $mysql_cfgdir
+      install -o 0 -g 0 -m 0755 -d $mariadb_cfgdir
     fi
     if [ ! -e "$dc" ]
     then
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ EOF
         echo "[client]";
         echo "host     = localhost";
         echo "user     = root";
-        echo "[mysql_upgrade]";
+        echo "[mariadb_upgrade]";
         echo "host     = localhost";
         echo "user     = root";
         echo "# THIS FILE WILL BE REMOVED IN A FUTURE DEBIAN RELEASE.";
diff --git a/debian/mariadb-server.preinst b/debian/mariadb-server.preinst
index 418273bbb27..4796f6bd76b 100644
--- a/debian/mariadb-server.preinst
+++ b/debian/mariadb-server.preinst
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ fi
 ${DEBIAN_SCRIPT_TRACE:+ echo "#42#DEBUG# RUNNING $0 $*" 1>&2 }
 
 export PATH=$PATH:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
-mysql_datadir=/var/lib/mysql
-mysql_upgradedir=/var/lib/mysql-upgrade
+mariadb_datadir=/var/lib/mysql
+mariadb_upgradedir=/var/lib/mysql-upgrade
 
 # Try to stop the server in a sane way. If it does not success let the admin
 # do it himself. No database directories should be removed while the server
@@ -68,13 +68,13 @@ max_upgradeable_version=5.7
 # Check if a flag file is found that indicates a previous MariaDB or MySQL
 # version was installed. If multiple flags are found, check which one was
 # the biggest version number.
-for flag in "$mysql_datadir"/debian-*.flag
+for flag in "$mariadb_datadir"/debian-*.flag
 do
 
   # The for loop leaves $flag as the query string if there are no results,
   # so the check below is needed to stop further processing when there are
   # no real results.
-  if [ "$flag" = "$mysql_datadir/debian-*.flag" ]
+  if [ "$flag" = "$mariadb_datadir/debian-*.flag" ]
   then
     break
   fi
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ then
   # MySQL 8.0 in Ubuntu has a bug in packaging and the file is name wrongly
   # 'debian-5.7.flag', so in case '5.7' was encountered an extra check needs to
   # be done to see is there is a file called undo_001, which is a sign of 8.0.
-  if [ "$found_version" == "5.7" ] && [ -f "$mysql_datadir/undo_001" ]
+  if [ "$found_version" == "5.7" ] && [ -f "$mariadb_datadir/undo_001" ]
   then
     # Seems to be a 8.0, flag has wrongly 5.7 (know bug)
     found_version=8.0
   fi
 
-  echo "$mysql_datadir: found previous version $found_version"
+  echo "$mariadb_datadir: found previous version $found_version"
 
   if dpkg --compare-versions "$found_version" '>>' "$this_version"
   then
@@ -135,10 +135,10 @@ fi
 # installs), then that file is enough of additional indication to trigger the
 # move of the data directory.
 if [ -z "$found_version" ] &&
-   [ -z "$(find $mysql_datadir/debian-*.flag 2> /dev/null)" ] &&
-   [ -f "$mysql_datadir/undo_001" ]
+   [ -z "$(find $mariadb_datadir/debian-*.flag 2> /dev/null)" ] &&
+   [ -f "$mariadb_datadir/undo_001" ]
 then
-  echo "$mysql_datadir: no server version flag found, assuming MySQL 8.0 data encountered"
+  echo "$mariadb_datadir: no server version flag found, assuming MySQL 8.0 data encountered"
   downgrade_detected=true
   found_version="previous" # Just use dummy name as we don't know real version
 fi
@@ -149,12 +149,12 @@ if [ -n "$downgrade_detected" ]
 then
   db_input critical "mariadb-server/old_data_directory_saved" || true
   db_go
-  echo "The file $mysql_datadir/debian-$found_version.flag indicates a" 1>&2
+  echo "The file $mariadb_datadir/debian-$found_version.flag indicates a" 1>&2
   echo "version that cannot automatically be upgraded. Therefore the" 1>&2
-  echo "previous data directory will be renamed to $mysql_datadir-$found_version and" 1>&2
-  echo "a new data directory will be initialized at $mysql_datadir." 1>&2
+  echo "previous data directory will be renamed to $mariadb_datadir-$found_version and" 1>&2
+  echo "a new data directory will be initialized at $mariadb_datadir." 1>&2
   echo "Please manually export/import your data (e.g. with mysqldump) if needed." 1>&2
-  mv -f "$mysql_datadir" "$mysql_datadir-$found_version"
+  mv -f "$mariadb_datadir" "$mariadb_datadir-$found_version"
   # Also move away the old debian.cnf file that included credentials that are
   # no longer valid. If none existed, ignore error and let dpkg continue.
   mv -f /etc/mysql/debian.cnf "/etc/mysql/debian.cnf-$found_version" || true
@@ -213,33 +213,33 @@ do
   checkdir=$(eval echo "$"$dir)
   if [ -L "$checkdir" ]; then
     # Use mkdir option 'Z' to create with correct SELinux context.
-    mkdir -pZ "$mysql_upgradedir"
-    cp -dT "$checkdir" "$mysql_upgradedir/$dir.link"
+    mkdir -pZ "$mariadb_upgradedir"
+    cp -dT "$checkdir" "$mariadb_upgradedir/$dir.link"
   fi
 done
 
 # creating mysql home directory
-if [ ! -d $mysql_datadir ] && [ ! -L $mysql_datadir ]
+if [ ! -d $mariadb_datadir ] && [ ! -L $mariadb_datadir ]
 then
   # Use mkdir option 'Z' to create with correct SELinux context.
-  mkdir -Z $mysql_datadir
+  mkdir -Z $mariadb_datadir
 fi
 
 # Check if MariaDB datadir is available if not fails.
 # There should be symlink or directory available or something will fail.
-if [ -d "$mysql_datadir" ] || [ -L "$mysql_datadir" ]
+if [ -d "$mariadb_datadir" ] || [ -L "$mariadb_datadir" ]
 then
     # As preset blocksize of GNU df is 1024 then available bytes is $df_available_blocks * 1024
     # 4096 blocks is then lower than 4 MB
-    df_available_blocks="$(LC_ALL=C BLOCKSIZE='' df --output=avail "$mysql_datadir" | tail -n 1)"
+    df_available_blocks="$(LC_ALL=C BLOCKSIZE='' df --output=avail "$mariadb_datadir" | tail -n 1)"
     if [ "$df_available_blocks" -lt "4096" ]
     then
-      echo "ERROR: There's not enough space in $mysql_datadir/" 1>&2
+      echo "ERROR: There's not enough space in $mariadb_datadir/" 1>&2
       db_stop
       exit 1
     fi
 else
-    echo "ERROR: There's no directory or symlink available: $mysql_datadir/" 1>&2
+    echo "ERROR: There's no directory or symlink available: $mariadb_datadir/" 1>&2
     db_stop
     exit 1    
 fi
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ fi
 # The "set +e" is necessary as e.g. a ".journal" of a ext3 partition is
 # not chgrp'able (#318435).
 set +e
-find $mysql_datadir ! -uid "$(id -u mysql)" -print0 | xargs -0 -r chown mysql
-find $mysql_datadir -follow -not -group mysql -print0 2>/dev/null \
+find $mariadb_datadir ! -uid "$(id -u mysql)" -print0 | xargs -0 -r chown mysql
+find $mariadb_datadir -follow -not -group mysql -print0 2>/dev/null \
   | xargs -0 --no-run-if-empty chgrp mysql
 set -e