diff --git a/qapi/opts-visitor.c b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
index 87c1c78..16382e7 100644
--- a/qapi/opts-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
@@ -484,8 +484,7 @@
 
 
 static void
-opts_start_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
-                       Error **errp)
+opts_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name, Error **errp)
 {
     OptsVisitor *ov = DO_UPCAST(OptsVisitor, visitor, v);
 
@@ -528,7 +527,7 @@
     /* type_number() is not filled in, but this is not the first visitor to
      * skip some mandatory methods... */
 
-    ov->visitor.start_optional = &opts_start_optional;
+    ov->visitor.optional = &opts_optional;
 
     ov->opts_root = opts;
 
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
index 1f7475c..ffd7637 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
@@ -69,18 +69,11 @@
     v->end_list(v, errp);
 }
 
-void visit_start_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
-                          Error **errp)
+void visit_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
+                    Error **errp)
 {
-    if (!error_is_set(errp) && v->start_optional) {
-        v->start_optional(v, present, name, errp);
-    }
-}
-
-void visit_end_optional(Visitor *v, Error **errp)
-{
-    if (!error_is_set(errp) && v->end_optional) {
-        v->end_optional(v, errp);
+    if (!error_is_set(errp) && v->optional) {
+        v->optional(v, present, name, errp);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
index a2bed1e..d861206 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
@@ -286,8 +286,8 @@
     }
 }
 
-static void qmp_input_start_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present,
-                                     const char *name, Error **errp)
+static void qmp_input_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
+                               Error **errp)
 {
     QmpInputVisitor *qiv = to_qiv(v);
     QObject *qobj = qmp_input_get_object(qiv, name, true);
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@
     v->visitor.type_bool = qmp_input_type_bool;
     v->visitor.type_str = qmp_input_type_str;
     v->visitor.type_number = qmp_input_type_number;
-    v->visitor.start_optional = qmp_input_start_optional;
+    v->visitor.optional = qmp_input_optional;
     v->visitor.get_next_type = qmp_input_get_next_type;
 
     qmp_input_push(v, obj, NULL);
diff --git a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
index 793548a..5780944 100644
--- a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@
     *obj = val;
 }
 
-static void parse_start_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present,
-                                 const char *name, Error **errp)
+static void parse_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
+                           Error **errp)
 {
     StringInputVisitor *siv = DO_UPCAST(StringInputVisitor, visitor, v);
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
     v->visitor.type_bool = parse_type_bool;
     v->visitor.type_str = parse_type_str;
     v->visitor.type_number = parse_type_number;
-    v->visitor.start_optional = parse_start_optional;
+    v->visitor.optional = parse_optional;
 
     v->string = str;
     return v;