diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/gemini_multimodal_live/gemini.py b/src/pipecat/services/gemini_multimodal_live/gemini.py
index f9584df9d..ec33eb7b4 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/gemini_multimodal_live/gemini.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/gemini_multimodal_live/gemini.py
@@ -524,8 +524,8 @@ class GeminiMultimodalLiveLLMService(LLMService):
         """
         return True
 
-    def needs_mcp_clean_schema(self) -> bool:
-        """Check if this LLM service requires MCP schema cleaning.
+    def needs_mcp_alternate_schema(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if this LLM service requires alternate MCP schema.
 
         Google/Gemini has stricter JSON schema validation and requires
         certain properties to be removed or modified for compatibility.
diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/google/llm.py b/src/pipecat/services/google/llm.py
index e36c6591e..ed4939bfb 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/google/llm.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/google/llm.py
@@ -631,8 +631,8 @@ class GoogleLLMService(LLMService):
         """
         return True
 
-    def needs_mcp_clean_schema(self) -> bool:
-        """Check if this LLM service requires MCP schema cleaning.
+    def needs_mcp_alternate_schema(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if this LLM service requires alternate MCP schema.
 
         Google/Gemini has stricter JSON schema validation and requires
         certain properties to be removed or modified for compatibility.
diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/llm_service.py b/src/pipecat/services/llm_service.py
index 24ed932d8..ec4ee9eec 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/llm_service.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/llm_service.py
@@ -307,8 +307,8 @@ class LLMService(AIService):
             return True
         return function_name in self._functions.keys()
 
-    def needs_mcp_clean_schema(self) -> bool:
-        """Check if this LLM service requires MCP schema cleaning.
+    def needs_mcp_alternate_schema(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if this LLM service requires alternate MCP schema.
 
         Some LLM services have stricter JSON schema validation and require
         certain properties to be removed or modified for compatibility.
diff --git a/src/pipecat/services/mcp_service.py b/src/pipecat/services/mcp_service.py
index 3d757e32e..c165b96fa 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/services/mcp_service.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/services/mcp_service.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class MCPClient(BaseObject):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
         self._server_params = server_params
         self._session = ClientSession
-        self._needs_schema_cleaning = False
+        self._needs_alternate_schema = False
 
         if isinstance(server_params, StdioServerParameters):
             self._client = stdio_client
@@ -79,47 +79,47 @@ class MCPClient(BaseObject):
         Returns:
             A ToolsSchema containing all successfully registered tools.
         """
-        # Check once if the LLM needs schema cleaning
-        self._needs_schema_cleaning = llm and llm.needs_mcp_clean_schema()
+        # Check once if the LLM needs alternate strict schema
+        self._needs_alternate_schema = llm and llm.needs_mcp_alternate_schema()
         tools_schema = await self._register_tools(llm)
         return tools_schema
 
-    def _clean_schema_for_strict_validation(self, schema: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
-        """Clean a JSON schema to be compatible with LLMs that have strict validation.
+    def _get_alternate_schema_for_strict_validation(self, schema: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        """Get an alternate JSON schema to be compatible with LLMs that have strict validation.
 
         Some LLMs have stricter validation and don't allow certain schema properties
         that are valid in standard JSON Schema.
 
         Args:
-            schema: The JSON schema to clean
+            schema: The JSON schema to get an alternate schema for
 
         Returns:
-            A cleaned schema compatible with strict validation
+            An alternate schema compatible with strict validation
         """
         if not isinstance(schema, dict):
             return schema
 
-        cleaned = {}
+        alternate_schema = {}
 
         for key, value in schema.items():
             # Skip additionalProperties as some LLMs don't like additionalProperties: false
             if key == "additionalProperties":
                 continue
 
-            # Recursively clean nested objects
+            # Recursively get alternate schema for nested objects
             if isinstance(value, dict):
-                cleaned[key] = self._clean_schema_for_strict_validation(value)
+                alternate_schema[key] = self._get_alternate_schema_for_strict_validation(value)
             elif isinstance(value, list):
-                cleaned[key] = [
-                    self._clean_schema_for_strict_validation(item)
+                alternate_schema[key] = [
+                    self._get_alternate_schema_for_strict_validation(item)
                     if isinstance(item, dict)
                     else item
                     for item in value
                 ]
             else:
-                cleaned[key] = value
+                alternate_schema[key] = value
 
-        return cleaned
+        return alternate_schema
 
     def _convert_mcp_schema_to_pipecat(
         self, tool_name: str, tool_schema: Dict[str, Any]
@@ -138,10 +138,10 @@ class MCPClient(BaseObject):
         properties = tool_schema["input_schema"].get("properties", {})
         required = tool_schema["input_schema"].get("required", [])
 
-        # Only clean properties for LLMs that need strict schema validation
-        if self._needs_schema_cleaning:
-            logger.debug("Cleaning schema for strict validation")
-            properties = self._clean_schema_for_strict_validation(properties)
+        # Only get alternate schema for LLMs that need strict schema validation
+        if self._needs_alternate_schema:
+            logger.debug("Getting alternate schema for strict validation")
+            properties = self._get_alternate_schema_for_strict_validation(properties)
 
         schema = FunctionSchema(
             name=tool_name,