diff --git a/kernel/celledges.cc b/kernel/celledges.cc
index c6615968f..2d8177d31 100644
--- a/kernel/celledges.cc
+++ b/kernel/celledges.cc
@@ -227,11 +227,11 @@ void shift_op(AbstractCellEdgesDatabase *db, RTLIL::Cell *cell)
 					db->add_edge(cell, ID::B, k, ID::Y, i, -1);
 			} else if (cell->type.in(ID($shr), ID($sshr)) && is_signed) {
 				bool shift_in_bulk = i < a_width - 1;
-				// can we jump into the ambient x-bits by toggling B[k]?
-				bool x_jump = (((y_width - i) & ((1 << (k + 1)) - 1)) != 0 \
+				// can we jump into the zero-padding by toggling B[k]?
+				bool zpad_jump = (((y_width - i) & ((1 << (k + 1)) - 1)) != 0 \
 								&& (((y_width - i) & ~(1 << k)) < (1 << b_width)));
 
-				if (shift_in_bulk || (cell->type == ID($shr) && x_jump))
+				if (shift_in_bulk || (cell->type == ID($shr) && zpad_jump))
 					db->add_edge(cell, ID::B, k, ID::Y, i, -1);
 			} else {
 				if (i < a_width)