diff --git a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/comm.js b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/comm.js
index 38fafa8..95da4b0 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/comm.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/comm.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
     
     var CommManager = function (kernel) {
         this.comms = {};
-        this.targets = {comm : Comm};
+        this.targets = {};
         if (kernel !== undefined) {
             this.init_kernel(kernel);
         }
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
         }
     };
     
-    CommManager.prototype.register_target = function (target, constructor) {
-        // Register a constructor for a given target key
-        this.targets[target] = constructor;
+    CommManager.prototype.register_target = function (target_name, f) {
+        // Register a target function for a given target name
+        this.targets[target_name] = f;
     };
     
     CommManager.prototype.register_comm = function (comm) {
@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
     
     CommManager.prototype.comm_open = function (msg) {
         var content = msg.content;
-        var callback = this.targets[content.target];
+        var callback = this.targets[content.target_name];
         if (callback === undefined) {
-            console.log("No such target registered: ", content.target);
+            console.log("No such target registered: ", content.target_name);
             console.log("Available targets are: ", this.targets);
             return;
         }
@@ -96,9 +96,9 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
     // Comm base class
     //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
     
-    var Comm = function (comm_id, target) {
+    var Comm = function (comm_id, target_name) {
         this.comm_id = comm_id || new IPython.utils.uuid();
-        this.target = target || 'comm';
+        this.target_name = target_name;
         this._msg_callback = this._open_callback = this._close_callback = null;
     };
     
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
     Comm.prototype.open = function (data, callbacks) {
         var content = {
             comm_id : this.comm_id,
-            target : this.target,
+            target_name : this.target_name,
             data : data || {},
         };
         return this.kernel.send_shell_message("comm_open", content, callbacks);
diff --git a/IPython/kernel/comm/comm.py b/IPython/kernel/comm/comm.py
index 7a10cb8..1e94c3a 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/comm/comm.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/comm/comm.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class Comm(LoggingConfigurable):
             return
         return self.shell.kernel.session
     
-    target = Unicode('comm')
+    target_name = Unicode('comm')
     
     topic = Bytes()
     def _topic_default(self):
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class Comm(LoggingConfigurable):
         """Open the frontend-side version of this comm"""
         if data is None:
             data = self._open_data
-        self._publish_msg('comm_open', data, target=self.target)
+        self._publish_msg('comm_open', data, target_name=self.target_name)
     
     def close(self, data=None):
         """Close the frontend-side version of this comm"""
diff --git a/IPython/kernel/comm/manager.py b/IPython/kernel/comm/manager.py
index f7d3a56..75e24a7 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/comm/manager.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/comm/manager.py
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ class CommManager(LoggingConfigurable):
     
     # Public APIs
     
-    def register_target(self, target, f):
-        """Register a callable f for a given target
+    def register_target(self, target_name, f):
+        """Register a callable f for a given target name
         
         f will be called with a Comm object as its only argument
         when a comm_open message is received with `target`.
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class CommManager(LoggingConfigurable):
         if isinstance(f, basestring):
             f = import_item(f)
         
-        self.targets[target] = f
+        self.targets[target_name] = f
     
     def register_comm(self, comm):
         """Register a new comm"""
@@ -125,18 +125,18 @@ class CommManager(LoggingConfigurable):
         """Handler for comm_open messages"""
         content = msg['content']
         comm_id = content['comm_id']
-        target = content['target']
-        callback = self.targets.get(target, None)
+        target_name = content['target_name']
+        f = self.targets.get(target_name, None)
         comm = Comm(comm_id=comm_id,
                     shell=self.shell,
                     iopub_socket=self.iopub_socket,
                     primary=False,
         )
-        if callback is None:
-            self.log.error("No such comm target registered: %s", target)
+        if f is None:
+            self.log.error("No such comm target registered: %s", target_name)
             comm.close()
             return
-        callback(comm)
+        f(comm)
         comm.handle_open(msg)
         self.register_comm(comm)