diff --git a/src/interactive-auth.js b/src/interactive-auth.js
index 117e7047c..c40b8f513 100644
--- a/src/interactive-auth.js
+++ b/src/interactive-auth.js
@@ -201,11 +201,11 @@ InteractiveAuth.prototype = {
      * @param {object} authData new auth dict to send to the server. Should
      *    include a `type` propterty denoting the login type, as well as any
      *    other params for that stage.
-     * @param {bool} ignoreFailure If true, this request failing will not result
+     * @param {bool} background If true, this request failing will not result
      *    in the attemptAuth promise being rejected. This can be set to true
      *    for requests that just poll to see if auth has been completed elsewhere.
      */
-    submitAuthDict: function(authData, ignoreFailure) {
+    submitAuthDict: function(authData, background) {
         if (!this._completionDeferred) {
             throw new Error("submitAuthDict() called before attemptAuth()");
         }
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ InteractiveAuth.prototype = {
         };
         utils.extend(auth, authData);
 
-        this._doRequest(auth, ignoreFailure);
+        this._doRequest(auth, background);
     },
 
     /**
@@ -247,11 +247,12 @@ InteractiveAuth.prototype = {
      *
      * @private
      * @param {object?} auth new auth dict, including session id
-     * @param {bool?} ignoreFailure If true, this request failing will not result
-     *    in the attemptAuth promise being rejected. This can be set to true
-     *    for requests that just poll to see if auth has been completed elsewhere.
+     * @param {bool?} background If true, this request is a background poll, so it
+     *    failing will not result in the attemptAuth promise being rejected.
+     *    This can be set to true for requests that just poll to see if auth has
+     *    been completed elsewhere.
      */
-    _doRequest: function(auth, ignoreFailure) {
+    _doRequest: function(auth, background) {
         const self = this;
 
         // hackery to make sure that synchronous exceptions end up in the catch
@@ -259,7 +260,7 @@ InteractiveAuth.prototype = {
         // extra q().then)
         let prom;
         try {
-            prom = this._requestCallback(auth);
+            prom = this._requestCallback(auth, background);
         } catch (e) {
             prom = q.reject(e);
         }
@@ -290,7 +291,7 @@ InteractiveAuth.prototype = {
                 self._startNextAuthStage();
             },
         );
-        if (!ignoreFailure) {
+        if (!background) {
             prom = prom.catch(this._completionDeferred.reject);
         } else {
             // We ignore all failures here (even non-UI auth related ones)