diff --git a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs.h b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs.h
index f1e44f0829..b306de4a7a 100644
--- a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs.h
+++ b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ OPAL_DECLSPEC void opal_ibv_free_device_list(struct ibv_device **ib_devs);
  * common_verbs_mca.c
  */
 extern bool opal_common_verbs_warn_nonexistent_if;
-extern int opal_verbs_want_fork_support;
+extern int opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support;
 OPAL_DECLSPEC void opal_common_verbs_mca_register(mca_base_component_t *component);
 
 /*
diff --git a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_basics.c b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_basics.c
index a2e09cf4eb..461f51ad8c 100644
--- a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_basics.c
+++ b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_basics.c
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ int opal_common_verbs_fork_test(void)
     /* Make sure that ibv_fork_init is called before the calls to other memory registering verbs,
      * which will be called after this function */
 #ifdef HAVE_IBV_FORK_INIT
-    if (0 != opal_verbs_want_fork_support) {
+    if (0 != opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support) {
         /* Check if fork support is requested by the user */
         if (0 != ibv_fork_init()) {
-            /* If the opal_want_fork_support MCA parameter is >0 but
+            /* If the opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support MCA parameter is >0 but
              * the call to ibv_fork_init() failed, then return an error code.
              */
-            if (opal_verbs_want_fork_support > 0) {
+            if (opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support > 0) {
                 opal_show_help("help-opal-common-verbs.txt",
                                "ibv_fork_init fail", true,
                                opal_proc_local_get()->proc_hostname, errno,
diff --git a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_mca.c b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_mca.c
index 9dcb296383..6bdbef5e26 100644
--- a/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_mca.c
+++ b/opal/mca/common/verbs/common_verbs_mca.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ static bool registered = false;
 static int warn_nonexistent_if_index = -1;
 
 bool opal_common_verbs_warn_nonexistent_if = true;
+int opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support = 1;
 
 static void register_internal(void)
 {
@@ -35,7 +36,6 @@ static void register_internal(void)
     mca_base_var_register_synonym(warn_nonexistent_if_index, "ompi", "ompi_common",
                                   "verbs", "warn_nonexistent_if", MCA_BASE_VAR_SYN_FLAG_DEPRECATED);
 
-    opal_verbs_want_fork_support = 1;
     mca_base_var_register("opal", "opal_common", "verbs", "want_fork_support",
                           "Whether fork support is desired or not "
                           "(negative = try to enable fork support, but continue even "
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ static void register_internal(void)
                           "positive = try to enable fork support and fail if it is not available)",
                           MCA_BASE_VAR_TYPE_INT, NULL, 0, MCA_BASE_VAR_FLAG_SETTABLE,
                           OPAL_INFO_LVL_8, MCA_BASE_VAR_SCOPE_ALL_EQ,
-                          &opal_verbs_want_fork_support);
+                          &opal_common_verbs_want_fork_support);
 
     registered = true;
 }