diff --git a/aodh/coordination.py b/aodh/coordination.py
index 5aaf5f429..5aec7f4ca 100644
--- a/aodh/coordination.py
+++ b/aodh/coordination.py
@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@ OPTS = [
                     'left empty, alarm evaluation won\'t do workload '
                     'partitioning and will only function correctly if a '
                     'single instance of the service is running.'),
-    cfg.FloatOpt('heartbeat',
+    cfg.FloatOpt('heartbeat_interval',
                  default=1.0,
+                 deprecated_name='heartbeat',
                  help='Number of seconds between heartbeats for distributed '
                       'coordination.'),
     cfg.FloatOpt('check_watchers',
diff --git a/aodh/evaluator/__init__.py b/aodh/evaluator/__init__.py
index a72daacb9..35e47175e 100644
--- a/aodh/evaluator/__init__.py
+++ b/aodh/evaluator/__init__.py
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ class AlarmEvaluationService(cotyledon.Service):
             self.periodic.add(evaluate_alarms)
 
         if self.partition_coordinator.is_active():
-            heartbeat_interval = min(self.conf.coordination.heartbeat,
+            heartbeat_interval = min(self.conf.coordination.heartbeat_interval,
                                      self.conf.evaluation_interval / 4)
 
             @periodics.periodic(spacing=heartbeat_interval,
diff --git a/aodh/tests/unit/test_evaluator.py b/aodh/tests/unit/test_evaluator.py
index 893919d81..47eb34a97 100644
--- a/aodh/tests/unit/test_evaluator.py
+++ b/aodh/tests/unit/test_evaluator.py
@@ -62,13 +62,13 @@ class TestAlarmEvaluationService(tests_base.BaseTestCase):
         ))
 
     def _do_test_start(self, test_interval=120,
-                       coordination_heartbeat=1.0,
+                       coordination_heartbeat_interval=1.0,
                        coordination_active=False):
 
         self.CONF.set_override('evaluation_interval',
                                test_interval)
-        self.CONF.set_override('heartbeat',
-                               coordination_heartbeat,
+        self.CONF.set_override('heartbeat_interval',
+                               coordination_heartbeat_interval,
                                group='coordination')
 
         self._fake_pc.is_active.return_value = coordination_active
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class TestAlarmEvaluationService(tests_base.BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_start_coordinated_high_hb_interval(self):
         self._do_test_start(coordination_active=True, test_interval=10,
-                            coordination_heartbeat=5)
+                            coordination_heartbeat_interval=5)
 
     def test_evaluation_cycle(self):
         alarm = mock.Mock(type='gnocchi_aggregation_by_metrics_threshold',
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat_interval-d46e0f5efbd56264.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat_interval-d46e0f5efbd56264.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7552e2b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat_interval-d46e0f5efbd56264.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    The ``[coordination] heartbeat`` parameter has been renamed to
+    the ``[coordination] heartbeat_interval``.
+    The old ``[coordination] heartbeat`` parameter is deprecated and will be
+    removed in a future release.