diff --git a/lib/datasource/npm.js b/lib/datasource/npm.js
index 6ebe65a815b2f4ffac1b1d337c847b703f7d448f..6c979e8e0a18aa1e248b7848c03f767a5030a79d 100644
--- a/lib/datasource/npm.js
+++ b/lib/datasource/npm.js
@@ -100,17 +100,17 @@ function getPkgReleases(input, config) {
   const retries = config ? config.retries : undefined;
   if (is.string(input)) {
     const depName = input;
-    return getDependencyInner(depName, retries);
+    return getDependency(depName, retries);
   }
   if (config) {
     const exposeEnv = config.global ? config.global.exposeEnv : false;
     setNpmrc(config.npmrc, exposeEnv);
   }
   const purl = input;
-  return getDependencyInner(purl.fullname, retries);
+  return getDependency(purl.fullname, retries);
 }
 
-async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
+async function getDependency(name, retries = 5) {
   logger.trace(`getPkgReleases(${name})`);
   if (memcache[name]) {
     logger.trace('Returning cached result');
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
       }
       logger.info('No versions returned, retrying');
       await delay(5000 / retries);
-      return getDependencyInner(name, 0);
+      return getDependency(name, 0);
     }
 
     const latestVersion = res.versions[res['dist-tags'].latest];
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
       }
       logger.info({ err }, 'npm registry failure: ParseError, retrying');
       await delay(5000 / retries);
-      return getDependencyInner(name, retries - 1);
+      return getDependency(name, retries - 1);
     }
     if (err.statusCode === 429) {
       if (retries <= 0) {
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
         `npm too many requests. retrying after ${retryAfter} seconds`
       );
       await delay(1000 * (retryAfter + 1));
-      return getDependencyInner(name, retries - 1);
+      return getDependency(name, retries - 1);
     }
     if (err.statusCode === 408) {
       if (retries <= 0) {
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
       }
       logger.info({ err }, 'npm registry failure: timeout, retrying');
       await delay(5000 / retries);
-      return getDependencyInner(name, retries - 1);
+      return getDependency(name, retries - 1);
     }
     if (err.statusCode >= 500 && err.statusCode < 600) {
       if (retries <= 0) {
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ async function getDependencyInner(name, retries = 5) {
       }
       logger.info({ err }, 'npm registry failure: internal error, retrying');
       await delay(5000 / retries);
-      return getDependencyInner(name, retries - 1);
+      return getDependency(name, retries - 1);
     }
     logger.warn({ err, name }, 'npm registry failure: Unknown error');
     throw new Error('registry-failure');