diff --git a/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc b/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
index cda6b7acb..c903895e2 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ DownloadFileResult downloadFile(
         request.expectedETag = getStrAttr(cached->infoAttrs, "etag");
     FileTransferResult res;
     try {
-        res = getFileTransfer()->download(request);
+        res = getFileTransfer()->transfer(request);
     } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
         if (cached) {
             warn("%s; using cached version", e.msg());
diff --git a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index 156ab6f7a..065f38a0c 100644
--- a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -817,17 +817,11 @@ ref<FileTransfer> makeFileTransfer()
     return makeCurlFileTransfer();
 }
 
-FileTransferResult FileTransfer::download(const FileTransferRequest & request)
+FileTransferResult FileTransfer::transfer(const FileTransferRequest & request)
 {
     return enqueueFileTransfer(request).get();
 }
 
-FileTransferResult FileTransfer::upload(const FileTransferRequest & request)
-{
-    /* Note: this method is the same as download, but helps in readability */
-    return enqueueFileTransfer(request).get();
-}
-
 template<typename... Args>
 FileTransferError::FileTransferError(FileTransfer::Error error, std::optional<std::string> response, const Args & ... args)
     : Error(args...), error(error), response(response)
diff --git a/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh b/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
index 23105e245..5d739112b 100644
--- a/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
@@ -99,14 +99,9 @@ struct FileTransfer
     virtual std::future<FileTransferResult> enqueueFileTransfer(const FileTransferRequest & request) = 0;
 
     /**
-     * Synchronously download a file.
+     * Synchronously transfer a file.
      */
-    FileTransferResult download(const FileTransferRequest & request);
-
-    /**
-     * Synchronously upload a file.
-     */
-    FileTransferResult upload(const FileTransferRequest & request);
+    FileTransferResult transfer(const FileTransferRequest & request);
 
     /**
      * Download a file, writing its data to a sink. The sink will be
diff --git a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
index 9fafabe65..8cbb50ee9 100644
--- a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ protected:
         try {
             FileTransferRequest request(makeRequest(path));
             request.head = true;
-            getFileTransfer()->download(request);
+            getFileTransfer()->transfer(request);
             return true;
         } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
             /* S3 buckets return 403 if a file doesn't exist and the
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ protected:
         req.data = StreamToSourceAdapter(istream).drain();
         req.mimeType = mimeType;
         try {
-            getFileTransfer()->upload(req);
+            getFileTransfer()->transfer(req);
         } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
             throw UploadToHTTP("while uploading to HTTP binary cache at '%s': %s", cacheUri, e.msg());
         }
diff --git a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
index cbc28fdd7..c7f31f3fb 100644
--- a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
+++ b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ struct CmdUpgradeNix : MixDryRun, EvalCommand
 
         // FIXME: use nixos.org?
         auto req = FileTransferRequest(storePathsUrl);
-        auto res = getFileTransfer()->download(req);
+        auto res = getFileTransfer()->transfer(req);
 
         auto state = std::make_unique<EvalState>(SearchPath{}, store);
         auto v = state->allocValue();
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index 0e5c0965e..b60963a46 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(reportsSetupErrors))
     auto [port, srv] = serveHTTP("404 not found", "", [] { return ""; });
     auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
     ASSERT_THROW(
-        ft->download(FileTransferRequest(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port))),
+        ft->transfer(FileTransferRequest(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port))),
         FileTransferError);
 }
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(reportsTransferError))
     auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
     FileTransferRequest req(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port));
     req.baseRetryTimeMs = 0;
-    ASSERT_THROW(ft->download(req), FileTransferError);
+    ASSERT_THROW(ft->transfer(req), FileTransferError);
 }
 
 TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(handlesContentEncoding))
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, usesIntermediateLinkHeaders)
     auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
     FileTransferRequest req(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/first", port));
     req.baseRetryTimeMs = 0;
-    auto result = ft->download(req);
+    auto result = ft->transfer(req);
     ASSERT_EQ(result.immutableUrl, "http://foo");
 }