diff --git a/internal/daemon/controller/controller.go b/internal/daemon/controller/controller.go
index c9d89258dd..3025443530 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/controller/controller.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ import (
 type downstreamRouter interface {
 	// StartRouteMgmtTicking starts a ticker which manages the router's
 	// connections.
-	StartRouteMgmtTicking(context.Context, func() string, int) error
+	StartConnectionMgmtTicking(context.Context, func() string, int) error
 
 	// ProcessPendingConnections starts a function that continually processes
 	// incoming client connections. This only returns when the provided context
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ func (c *Controller) Start() error {
 		}()
 		go func() {
 			defer c.tickerWg.Done()
-			err := c.downstreamRoutes.StartRouteMgmtTicking(
+			err := c.downstreamRoutes.StartConnectionMgmtTicking(
 				c.baseContext,
 				servNameFn,
 				-1,
diff --git a/internal/daemon/controller/listeners.go b/internal/daemon/controller/listeners.go
index 6f65e18c20..e363bf82a3 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/controller/listeners.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/controller/listeners.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import (
 // the function that handles a secondary connection over a provided listener
 var handleSecondaryConnection = closeListener
 
-func closeListener(_ context.Context, l, _ net.Listener, _ any) error {
+func closeListener(_ context.Context, l net.Listener, _ any) error {
 	if l != nil {
 		return l.Close()
 	}
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ func (c *Controller) configureForCluster(ln *base.ServerListener) (func(), error
 
 	return func() {
 		err := handleSecondaryConnection(c.baseContext, metric.InstrumentClusterTrackingListener(multiplexingReverseGrpcListener, "reverse-grpc"),
-			nil, c.downstreamRoutes)
+			c.downstreamRoutes)
 		if err != nil {
 			event.WriteError(c.baseContext, op, err, event.WithInfoMsg("handleSecondaryConnection error"))
 		}
diff --git a/internal/daemon/worker/handler.go b/internal/daemon/worker/handler.go
index 7f652c38be..7f4d2d0d94 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/worker/handler.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/worker/handler.go
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ func (w *Worker) handleProxy(listenerCfg *listenerutil.ListenerConfig, sessionMa
 			}
 		}
 
-		pDialer, err := proxyHandlers.GetEndpointDialer(ctx, endpointUrl.Host, workerId, acResp, w.downstreamRoutes)
+		pDialer, err := proxyHandlers.GetEndpointDialer(ctx, endpointUrl.Host, workerId, acResp, w.downstreamReceiver)
 		if err != nil {
 			conn.Close(proxyHandlers.WebsocketStatusProtocolSetupError, "unable to get endpoint dialer")
 			event.WriteError(ctx, op, err)
diff --git a/internal/daemon/worker/listeners.go b/internal/daemon/worker/listeners.go
index cb48cd501b..b639d9ad94 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/worker/listeners.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/worker/listeners.go
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ func (w *Worker) configureForWorker(ln *base.ServerListener, logger *log.Logger,
 
 	return func() {
 		handleSecondaryConnection(cancelCtx, metric.InstrumentWorkerClusterTrackingListener(revPkiWorkerTrackingListener, "reverse-grpc"),
-			metric.InstrumentWorkerClusterTrackingListener(dataPlaneProxyTrackingListener, "multihop-proxy-dataplane"), w.downstreamRoutes)
+			metric.InstrumentWorkerClusterTrackingListener(dataPlaneProxyTrackingListener, "multihop-proxy-dataplane"), w.downstreamReceiver)
 		go w.workerAuthSplitListener.Start()
 		go httpServer.Serve(proxyListener)
 		go ln.GrpcServer.Serve(metric.InstrumentWorkerClusterTrackingListener(pkiWorkerTrackingListener, "grpc"))
diff --git a/internal/daemon/worker/worker.go b/internal/daemon/worker/worker.go
index 2c08855a79..cfd4a48f8d 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/worker/worker.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/worker/worker.go
@@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ import (
 
 type randFn func(length int) (string, error)
 
-// downstreamRouter defines a min interface which must be met by a
-// Worker.downstreamRoutes field
-type downstreamRouter interface {
-	// StartRouteMgmtTicking starts a ticker which manages the router's
+// reverseConnReceiver defines a min interface which must be met by a
+// Worker.downstreamReceiver field
+type reverseConnReceiver interface {
+	// StartConnectionMgmtTicking starts a ticker which manages the receiver's
 	// connections.
-	StartRouteMgmtTicking(context.Context, func() string, int) error
+	StartConnectionMgmtTicking(context.Context, func() string, int) error
 
-	// ProcessPendingConnections starts a function that continually processes
-	// incoming client connections. This only returns when the provided context
+	// StartProcessingPendingConnections is a function that continually
+	// processes incoming connections. This only returns when the provided context
 	// is done.
 	StartProcessingPendingConnections(context.Context, func() string) error
 }
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ type downstreamers interface {
 	RootId() string
 }
 
-// downstreamRouterFactory provides a simple factory which a Worker can use to
-// create its downstreamRouter
-var downstreamRouterFactory func() downstreamRouter
+// reverseConnReceiverFactory provides a simple factory which a Worker can use to
+// create its reverseConnReceiver
+var reverseConnReceiverFactory func() reverseConnReceiver
 
 var initializeReverseGrpcClientCollectors = noopInitializePromCollectors
 
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@ type Worker struct {
 	workerAuthSplitListener       *nodeenet.SplitListener
 
 	// downstream workers and routes to those workers
-	downstreamWorkers downstreamers
-	downstreamRoutes  downstreamRouter
+	downstreamWorkers  downstreamers
+	downstreamReceiver reverseConnReceiver
 
 	// Timing variables. These are atomics for SIGHUP support, and are int64
 	// because they are casted to time.Duration.
@@ -170,8 +170,8 @@ func New(conf *Config) (*Worker, error) {
 		statusCallTimeoutDuration:   new(atomic.Int64),
 	}
 
-	if downstreamRouterFactory != nil {
-		w.downstreamRoutes = downstreamRouterFactory()
+	if reverseConnReceiverFactory != nil {
+		w.downstreamReceiver = reverseConnReceiverFactory()
 	}
 
 	w.lastStatusSuccess.Store((*LastStatusInformation)(nil))
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ func (w *Worker) Start() error {
 		w.startAuthRotationTicking(w.baseContext)
 	}()
 
-	if w.downstreamRoutes != nil {
+	if w.downstreamReceiver != nil {
 		w.tickerWg.Add(2)
 		servNameFn := func() string {
 			if s := w.LastStatusSuccess(); s != nil {
@@ -447,13 +447,13 @@ func (w *Worker) Start() error {
 		}
 		go func() {
 			defer w.tickerWg.Done()
-			if err := w.downstreamRoutes.StartProcessingPendingConnections(w.baseContext, servNameFn); err != nil {
+			if err := w.downstreamReceiver.StartProcessingPendingConnections(w.baseContext, servNameFn); err != nil {
 				errors.Wrap(w.baseContext, err, op)
 			}
 		}()
 		go func() {
 			defer w.tickerWg.Done()
-			err := w.downstreamRoutes.StartRouteMgmtTicking(
+			err := w.downstreamReceiver.StartConnectionMgmtTicking(
 				w.baseContext,
 				servNameFn,
 				-1, // indicates the ticker should run until cancelled.