diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 3f76bf4aa7..19e536dcc7 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	const char *name;
 	pid_t pid;
 	int daemonized = 0;
-	int keep_base_pack = -1;
+	int keep_largest_pack = -1;
 	timestamp_t dummy;
 
 	struct option builtin_gc_options[] = {
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BOOL_F(0, "force", &force,
 			   N_("force running gc even if there may be another gc running"),
 			   PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "keep-largest-pack", &keep_base_pack,
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "keep-largest-pack", &keep_largest_pack,
 			 N_("repack all other packs except the largest pack")),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
@@ -621,8 +621,8 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	} else {
 		struct string_list keep_pack = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 
-		if (keep_base_pack != -1) {
-			if (keep_base_pack)
+		if (keep_largest_pack != -1) {
+			if (keep_largest_pack)
 				find_base_packs(&keep_pack, 0);
 		} else if (big_pack_threshold) {
 			find_base_packs(&keep_pack, big_pack_threshold);