diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ae5d85fa..d94467b1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -69,5 +69,5 @@ target/
 *.pem
 
 # Some files created when deploying a cluster on AWS
-deploy-cluster-aws/conf/bigchaindb.conf
+deploy-cluster-aws/conf/rethinkdb.conf
 deploy-cluster-aws/hostlist.py
diff --git a/deploy-cluster-aws/conf/bigchaindb.conf.template b/deploy-cluster-aws/conf/rethinkdb.conf.template
similarity index 100%
rename from deploy-cluster-aws/conf/bigchaindb.conf.template
rename to deploy-cluster-aws/conf/rethinkdb.conf.template
diff --git a/deploy-cluster-aws/create_bigchaindb_conf.py b/deploy-cluster-aws/create_rethinkdb_conf.py
similarity index 74%
rename from deploy-cluster-aws/create_bigchaindb_conf.py
rename to deploy-cluster-aws/create_rethinkdb_conf.py
index 4ac5a73e..268dd710 100644
--- a/deploy-cluster-aws/create_bigchaindb_conf.py
+++ b/deploy-cluster-aws/create_rethinkdb_conf.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-"""(Re)create the RethinkDB configuration file conf/bigchaindb.conf.
-Start with conf/bigchaindb.conf.template
+"""(Re)create the RethinkDB configuration file conf/rethinkdb.conf.
+Start with conf/rethinkdb.conf.template
 then append additional configuration settings (lines).
 """
 
@@ -13,14 +13,14 @@ from hostlist import hosts_dev
 # cwd = current working directory
 old_cwd = os.getcwd()
 os.chdir('conf')
-if os.path.isfile('bigchaindb.conf'):
-    os.remove('bigchaindb.conf')
+if os.path.isfile('rethinkdb.conf'):
+    os.remove('rethinkdb.conf')
 
-# Create the initial bigchaindb.conf using bigchaindb.conf.template
-shutil.copy2('bigchaindb.conf.template', 'bigchaindb.conf')
+# Create the initial rethinkdb.conf using rethinkdb.conf.template
+shutil.copy2('rethinkdb.conf.template', 'rethinkdb.conf')
 
-# Append additional lines to bigchaindb.conf
-with open('bigchaindb.conf', 'a') as f:
+# Append additional lines to rethinkdb.conf
+with open('rethinkdb.conf', 'a') as f:
     f.write('## The host:port of a node that RethinkDB will connect to\n')
     for public_dns_name in hosts_dev:
         f.write('join=' + public_dns_name + ':29015\n')
diff --git a/deploy-cluster-aws/fabfile.py b/deploy-cluster-aws/fabfile.py
index 1fc64184..705c1b37 100644
--- a/deploy-cluster-aws/fabfile.py
+++ b/deploy-cluster-aws/fabfile.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def install_rethinkdb():
         # change fs to user
         sudo('chown -R rethinkdb:rethinkdb /data')
         # copy config file to target system
-        put('conf/bigchaindb.conf',
+        put('conf/rethinkdb.conf',
             '/etc/rethinkdb/instances.d/instance1.conf', mode=0600, use_sudo=True)
         # initialize data-dir
         sudo('rm -rf /data/*')
diff --git a/deploy-cluster-aws/startup.sh b/deploy-cluster-aws/startup.sh
index 3374052e..4d3b69c1 100755
--- a/deploy-cluster-aws/startup.sh
+++ b/deploy-cluster-aws/startup.sh
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ python launch_ec2_nodes.py --tag $TAG --nodes $NODES
 chmod +x add2known_hosts.sh
 ./add2known_hosts.sh
 
-# (Re)create the RethinkDB configuration file conf/bigchaindb.conf
-python create_bigchaindb_conf.py
+# (Re)create the RethinkDB configuration file conf/rethinkdb.conf
+python create_rethinkdb_conf.py
 
 # rollout base packages (dependencies) needed before
 # storage backend (rethinkdb) and bigchaindb can be rolled out
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ fab install_rethinkdb
 fab install_bigchaindb
 
 # generate genesis block
-# HORST is the last public_dns_name listed in conf/bigchaindb.conf
+# HORST is the last public_dns_name listed in conf/rethinkdb.conf
 # For example:
 # ec2-52-58-86-145.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com
-HORST=`tail -1 conf/bigchaindb.conf|cut -d: -f1|cut -d= -f2`
+HORST=`tail -1 conf/rethinkdb.conf|cut -d: -f1|cut -d= -f2`
 fab -H $HORST -f fab_prepare_chain.py init_bigchaindb
 
 # initiate sharding