diff --git a/src/pulsecore/shared.c b/src/pulsecore/shared.c
index 1b5eea986..9bc7eb567 100644
--- a/src/pulsecore/shared.c
+++ b/src/pulsecore/shared.c
@@ -111,6 +111,6 @@ int pa_shared_replace(pa_core *c, const char *name, void *data) {
     pa_assert(c);
     pa_assert(name);
 
-    pa_shared_remove(c, name);
+    (void) pa_shared_remove(c, name);
     return pa_shared_set(c, name, data);
 }
diff --git a/src/pulsecore/shared.h b/src/pulsecore/shared.h
index 49e873870..19ac462c4 100644
--- a/src/pulsecore/shared.h
+++ b/src/pulsecore/shared.h
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ int pa_shared_set(pa_core *c, const char *name, void *data);
 /* Remove the specified shared property. Return non-zero on failure */
 int pa_shared_remove(pa_core *c, const char *name);
 
-/* A combination of pa_shared_remove() and pa_shared_set() */
+/* A combination of pa_shared_remove() and pa_shared_set(); this function
+ * first tries to remove the property by this name and then sets the
+ * property. Return non-zero on failure. */
 int pa_shared_replace(pa_core *c, const char *name, void *data);
 
 /* Dump the current set of shared properties */