diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
index e6b4314d..28831642 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def run_load(args):
     workers.start()
 
 
-def run_sharding(args):
+def run_set_shards(args):
     b = bigchaindb.Bigchain()
     r.table('bigchain').reconfigure(shards=args.num_shards, replicas=1).run(b.conn)
     r.table('backlog').reconfigure(shards=args.num_shards, replicas=1).run(b.conn)
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ def main():
                           help='Start BigchainDB')
 
     # parser for configuring the number of shards
-    sharding_parser = subparsers.add_parser('sharding',
+    sharding_parser = subparsers.add_parser('set-shards',
                                             help='Configure number of shards')
 
     sharding_parser.add_argument('num_shards', metavar='num_shards', type=int, default=1,
diff --git a/tests/test_commands.py b/tests/test_commands.py
index f90bc503..4b35edbb 100644
--- a/tests/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/test_commands.py
@@ -229,11 +229,11 @@ def test_start_rethinkdb_exits_when_cannot_start(mock_popen):
 
 def test_configure_sharding(b):
     import rethinkdb as r
-    from bigchaindb.commands.bigchain import run_sharding
+    from bigchaindb.commands.bigchain import run_set_shards
 
     # change number of shards
     args = Namespace(num_shards=3)
-    run_sharding(args)
+    run_set_shards(args)
 
     # retrieve table configuration
     table_config = list(r.db('rethinkdb')