diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj b/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
index c948809..5f3df7f 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@
                      (callback {:name name-sym :vars vars :done prom})))]
     (swap! callbacks assoc id callback)
     (write (:stdin pod)
-           {"op" "load"
-            "path" (str namespace)
+           {"op" "load-ns"
+            "ns" (str namespace)
             "id" id})
     @prom))
 
diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/jvm.clj b/src/babashka/pods/jvm.clj
index 437a360..97e8c0e 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/jvm.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/jvm.clj
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
                                (create-ns (symbol (namespace sym)))
                                (symbol (name sym)))))})
          namespaces (:namespaces pod)
-         load? (contains? (:ops pod) :load)]
+         load? (contains? (:ops pod) :load-ns)]
      (when load?
        (swap! namespaces-to-load
               merge
diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj b/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
index 5ee910d..a9159e2 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   (:require [babashka.pods.impl :as impl]
             [sci.core :as sci]))
 
-(defn process-namespace [ctx {:keys [:name :vars :done]}]
+(defn- process-namespace [ctx {:keys [:name :vars :done]}]
   (let [env (:env ctx)
         ns-name name
         sci-ns (sci/create-ns ns-name)]
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
                                       v)
                                v))))}))
              namespaces (:namespaces pod)
-             load? (contains? (:ops pod) :load)
+             load? (contains? (:ops pod) :load-ns)
              namespaces-to-load (when load?
                                   (set (keep (fn [[ns-name vars]]
                                                (when (empty? vars)
diff --git a/test-pod/pod/test_pod.clj b/test-pod/pod/test_pod.clj
index ea44a26..717ee0f 100644
--- a/test-pod/pod/test_pod.clj
+++ b/test-pod/pod/test_pod.clj
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
                                            dependents)}
                              {"name" "pod.test-pod.loaded"}]
                             "ops" {"shutdown" {}
-                                   "load" {}}})
+                                   "load-ns" {}}})
                     (recur))
                 :invoke (let [var (-> (get message "var")
                                       read-string
@@ -159,12 +159,12 @@
                               "value" "#my/other-tag[1]"}))
                           (recur))
                 :shutdown (System/exit 0)
-                :load (let [path (-> (get message "path")
-                                     read-string
-                                     symbol)
+                :load-ns (let [ns (-> (get message "ns")
+                                      read-string
+                                      symbol)
                             id (-> (get message "id")
                                    read-string)]
-                        (case path
+                        (case ns
                           pod.test-pod.loaded
                           (write
                            {"status" ["done"]