diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter.rb
index 90d7c29..6ffa6a7 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter.rb
@@ -41,12 +41,12 @@ module Rackstash
       # @param matchers [Array<String, Symbol, #===>] a list of specifications
       #   for log devices the `adapter_class` can forward logs to.
       # @raise [TypeError] if the passed adapter_class is not a class
-      #   inheriting from {Adapter::Adapter}
+      #   inheriting from {BaseAdapter}
       # @return [Class] the `adapter_class`
       def register(adapter_class, *matchers)
-        unless adapter_class.is_a?(Class) && adapter_class < Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        unless adapter_class.is_a?(Class) && adapter_class < BaseAdapter
           raise TypeError, 'adapter_class must be a class and inherit from ' \
-            'Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter'
+            'Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter'
         end
 
         matchers.flatten.each do |matcher|
@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ module Rackstash
       #
       # if no suitable adapter can be found, we raise an `ArgumentError`.
       #
-      # @param device [Adapter::Adapter, Object] a log device which should be
-      #   wrapped in an {Adapter}. If it is already an adapter, the `device` is
-      #   returned unchanged.
+      # @param device [BaseAdapter, Object] a log device which should be
+      #   wrapped in an adapter object. If it is already an adapter, the
+      #   `device` is returned unchanged.
       # @raise [ArgumentError] if no suitable adapter could be found for the
       #   provided `device`
       # @return [Adapter::Adapter] the resolved adapter instance
       def [](device)
-        return device if device.is_a?(Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter)
+        return device if device.is_a?(BaseAdapter)
 
         adapter   = adapter_by_uri(device)
         adapter ||= adapter_by_type(device)
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/adapter.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter.rb
similarity index 99%
rename from lib/rackstash/adapter/adapter.rb
rename to lib/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter.rb
index b80cf27..f340fe5 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ module Rackstash
     #
     # @abstract Subclasses need to override at least {#write_single} to
     #   implement a concrete log adapter.
-    class Adapter
+    class BaseAdapter
       # Register the current class as an adapter for the provided matchers.
       #
       # This is a convenience method intended to be used by sub-classes of this
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/callable.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/callable.rb
index dd0461e..af7220d 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/callable.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/callable.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
 # of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 require 'rackstash/encoder/hash'
 
 module Rackstash
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ module Rackstash
     #     Rackstash::Adapter::Callable.new do |log|
     #       # handle the log as required
     #     end
-    class Callable < Adapter
+    class Callable < BaseAdapter
       register_for ::Proc, :call
 
       # Create a new Callable adapter by wrapping a proc. You can pass the proc
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/file.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/file.rb
index 49036c6..fe2e6f6 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/file.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/file.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ require 'fileutils'
 require 'pathname'
 require 'thread'
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 
 module Rackstash
   module Adapter
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ module Rackstash
     # Since the {File} adapter automatically reopens the logfile after the
     # file was moved, you don't need to create the new file there nor should you
     # use the (potentially destructive) `copytruncate` option of logrotate.
-    class File < Adapter
+    class File < BaseAdapter
       register_for ::String, ::Pathname
 
       # @return [String] the absolute path to the log file
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/io.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/io.rb
index e56f7be..75b506b 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/io.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/io.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 require 'thread'
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 
 module Rackstash
   module Adapter
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ module Rackstash
     # different adapter to ensure consistent logs. Suitable adapters for this
     # use-case include {Rackstash::Adapter::File} or
     # {Rackstash::Adapter::TCP}.
-    class IO < Adapter
+    class IO < BaseAdapter
       # This module is by default included into all objects passed to
       # {Adapter::IO#initialize}. It allows to synchronize all write accesses
       # against this object, even when writing to the same object from multiple
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/logger.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/logger.rb
index 9fe30c1..a7eb1a1 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/logger.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/logger.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 require 'logger'
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 
 module Rackstash
   module Adapter
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ module Rackstash
     # `STDERR`), you should use the {File} encoder respectively the {IO} encoder
     # instead which usally provide stronger consistency guarantees and are
     # faster.
-    class Logger < Adapter
+    class Logger < BaseAdapter
       register_for ::Logger, 'Syslog::Logger'
 
       # @param logger [#add] A base logger to send log lines to. We only expect
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/adapter/null.rb b/lib/rackstash/adapter/null.rb
index 2e33b51..0e29bec 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/adapter/null.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/adapter/null.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
 # of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 require 'rackstash/encoder/raw'
 
 module Rackstash
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module Rackstash
     #
     # It is probably not very useful for production use but can be used to test
     # the {Flow} pipeline.
-    class Null < Adapter
+    class Null < BaseAdapter
       register_for NilClass
 
       # Create a new black hole adapter. Any logs written to it will be
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/adapter/adapter_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter_spec.rb
similarity index 93%
rename from spec/rackstash/adapter/adapter_spec.rb
rename to spec/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter_spec.rb
index 9d80ca1..2712842 100644
--- a/spec/rackstash/adapter/adapter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/rackstash/adapter/base_adapter_spec.rb
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@
 
 require 'spec_helper'
 
-require 'rackstash/adapter/adapter'
+require 'rackstash/adapter/base_adapter'
 
-describe Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter do
+describe Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter do
   let(:adapter) { described_class.new }
 
   describe '#initialize' do
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/adapter_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/adapter_spec.rb
index 5321564..c86bc32 100644
--- a/spec/rackstash/adapter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/rackstash/adapter_spec.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
   end
 
   let(:adapter) {
-    Class.new(Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter) do
+    Class.new(Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter) do
       def self.from_uri(*args)
         new(*args)
       end
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
 
         expect(device_class).to receive(:===).with(device).and_call_original
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'creates an adapter if any parent class was found' do
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
 
         expect(device_class).to receive(:===).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'raises if no class was found' do
@@ -149,14 +149,14 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
         device = SpecDevice.new
 
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'creates an adapter if any parent class was found' do
         inherited_device = InheritedSpecDevice.new
 
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(inherited_device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[inherited_device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'raises if no class was found' do
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
         device = Struct.new(:foo).new('foo')
 
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'raises if it does not respond to the registered method' do
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
 
         expect(checker).to receive(:===).with(device).and_call_original
         expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(device).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[device]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'does not create an adapter if the proc returns false' do
@@ -215,11 +215,11 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
       it 'creates an adapter from the scheme' do
         raw_uri = 'dummy://example.com'
         expect(adapter).to receive(:from_uri).with(URI(raw_uri)).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[raw_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[raw_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'calls adapter.new if adapter.from_uri is not available' do
-        plain_adapter = Class.new(Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter)
+        plain_adapter = Class.new(Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter)
         described_class.register plain_adapter, 'dummy'
 
         raw_uri = 'dummy://example.com'
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
       it 'creates an adapter from a URI' do
         uri = URI('dummy://example.com')
         expect(adapter).to receive(:from_uri).with(uri).and_call_original
-        expect(described_class[uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+        expect(described_class[uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
       end
 
       it 'raises if no scheme was found' do
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
           expect(adapter).to_not receive(:from_uri)
           # from the fallback
           expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(invalid_uri).and_call_original
-          expect(described_class[invalid_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+          expect(described_class[invalid_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
         end
 
         it 'falls though if no scheme was found' do
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ describe Rackstash::Adapter do
 
           expect(adapter).to_not receive(:from_uri)
           expect(adapter).to receive(:new).with(unknown_uri).and_call_original
-          expect(described_class[unknown_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::Adapter
+          expect(described_class[unknown_uri]).to be_an Rackstash::Adapter::BaseAdapter
         end
       end
     end