diff --git a/ate/client.py b/ate/client.py
index 81ca0ace..a56c9fc9 100644
--- a/ate/client.py
+++ b/ate/client.py
@@ -12,15 +12,13 @@ from requests.exceptions import (InvalidSchema, InvalidURL, MissingSchema,
 absolute_http_url_regexp = re.compile(r"^https?://", re.I)
 
 
-def process_kwargs(method, **kwargs):
+def prepare_kwargs(method, kwargs):
     if method == "POST":
         # if request content-type is application/json, request data should be dumped
         content_type = kwargs.get("headers", {}).get("content-type", "")
         if content_type.startswith("application/json") and "data" in kwargs:
             kwargs["data"] = json.dumps(kwargs["data"])
 
-    return kwargs
-
 
 class ApiResponse(Response):
 
@@ -152,7 +150,7 @@ class HttpSession(requests.Session):
         Safe mode has been removed from requests 1.x.
         """
         try:
-            kwargs = process_kwargs(method, **kwargs)
+            prepare_kwargs(method, kwargs)
             return requests.Session.request(self, method, url, **kwargs)
         except (MissingSchema, InvalidSchema, InvalidURL):
             raise
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 51331232..bd169f26 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from ate.client import HttpSession, process_kwargs
+from ate.client import HttpSession, prepare_kwargs
 from tests.base import ApiServerUnittest
 
 class TestHttpClient(ApiServerUnittest):
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class TestHttpClient(ApiServerUnittest):
         self.assertEqual(201, resp.status_code)
         self.assertEqual(True, resp.json()['success'])
 
-    def test_process_kwargs(self):
+    def test_prepare_kwargs(self):
         kwargs = {
             "headers": {
                 "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8"
@@ -46,6 +46,6 @@ class TestHttpClient(ApiServerUnittest):
                 "b": 2
             }
         }
-        kwargs = process_kwargs("POST", **kwargs)
+        prepare_kwargs("POST", kwargs)
         self.assertIn('"a": 1', kwargs["data"])
         self.assertIn('"b": 2', kwargs["data"])