diff --git a/include/mbedtls/utils.h b/include/mbedtls/platform_util.h
similarity index 58%
rename from include/mbedtls/utils.h
rename to include/mbedtls/platform_util.h
index 7eb2b68bf..bda97102c 100644
--- a/include/mbedtls/utils.h
+++ b/include/mbedtls/platform_util.h
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 /**
- * \file utils.h
- *
- * \brief Mbed TLS utility functions
+ * \file platform_util.h
  *
+ * \brief Common and shared functions used by multiple modules in the Mbed TLS
+ *        library.
+ */
+/*
  *  Copyright (C) 2018, Arm Limited, All Rights Reserved
  *  SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  *
@@ -20,11 +22,15 @@
  *
  *  This file is part of Mbed TLS (https://tls.mbed.org)
  */
-#ifndef MBEDTLS_UTILS_H
-#define MBEDTLS_UTILS_H
+#ifndef MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_UTIL_H
+#define MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_UTIL_H
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
 /**
  * \brief       Securely zeroize a buffer
  *
@@ -35,12 +41,17 @@
  *              compiler
  *
  * \note        It is extremely difficult to guarantee that calls to
- *              mbedtls_zeroize() are not removed by aggressive compiler
- *              optimizations in a portable way. For this reason, Mbed TLS
- *              provides the configuration option MBEDTLS_UTILS_ZEROIZE_ALT,
- *              which allows users to configure mbedtls_zeroize() to use a
- *              suitable implementation for their platform and needs
+ *              mbedtls_platform_zeroize() are not removed by aggressive
+ *              compiler optimizations in a portable way. For this reason, Mbed
+ *              TLS provides the configuration option
+ *              MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_ZEROIZE_ALT, which allows users to configure
+ *              mbedtls_platform_zeroize() to use a suitable implementation for
+ *              their platform and needs
  */
-void mbedtls_zeroize( void *buf, size_t len );
+void mbedtls_platform_zeroize( void *buf, size_t len );
 
-#endif /* MBEDTLS_UTILS_H */
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_UTIL_H */
diff --git a/library/CMakeLists.txt b/library/CMakeLists.txt
index 24a2484a3..648b151a0 100644
--- a/library/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ set(src_crypto
     version.c
     version_features.c
     xtea.c
-    utils.c
+    platform_util.c
 )
 
 set(src_x509
diff --git a/library/Makefile b/library/Makefile
index 46dce4e6f..fd4544aa4 100644
--- a/library/Makefile
+++ b/library/Makefile
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ OBJS_CRYPTO=	aes.o		aesni.o		arc4.o		\
 		sha1.o		sha256.o	sha512.o	\
 		threading.o	timing.o	version.o	\
 		version_features.o		xtea.o	\
-		utils.o
+		platform_util.o
 
 OBJS_X509=	certs.o		pkcs11.o	x509.o		\
 		x509_create.o	x509_crl.o	x509_crt.o	\
diff --git a/library/utils.c b/library/platform_util.c
similarity index 70%
rename from library/utils.c
rename to library/platform_util.c
index 34629eb97..498e214ff 100644
--- a/library/utils.c
+++ b/library/platform_util.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
- *  Mbed TLS utility functions
+ * Common and shared functions used by multiple modules in the Mbed TLS
+ * library.
  *
  *  Copyright (C) 2018, Arm Limited, All Rights Reserved
  *  SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
@@ -30,12 +31,12 @@
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#if !defined(MBEDTLS_UTILS_ZEROIZE_ALT)
+#if !defined(MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_ZEROIZE_ALT)
 /*
  * This implementation should never be optimized out by the compiler
  *
- * This implementation for mbedtls_zeroize() was inspired from Colin Percival's
- * blog article at:
+ * This implementation for mbedtls_platform_zeroize() was inspired from Colin
+ * Percival's blog article at:
  *
  * http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2014-09-04-how-to-zero-a-buffer.html
  *
@@ -50,17 +51,17 @@
  * if( memset_func != memset )
  *     memset_func( buf, 0, len );
  *
- * Note that it is extremely difficult to guarantee that mbedtls_zeroize()
- * will not be optimized out by aggressive compilers in a portable way. For
- * this reason, Mbed TLS also provides the configuration option
- * MBEDTLS_UTILS_ZEROIZE_ALT, which allows users to configure
- * mbedtls_zeroize() to use a suitable implementation for their platform and
- * needs.
+ * Note that it is extremely difficult to guarantee that
+ * mbedtls_platform_zeroize() will not be optimized out by aggressive compilers
+ * in a portable way. For this reason, Mbed TLS also provides the configuration
+ * option MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_ZEROIZE_ALT, which allows users to configure
+ * mbedtls_platform_zeroize() to use a suitable implementation for their
+ * platform and needs.
  */
 static void * (* const volatile memset_func)( void *, int, size_t ) = memset;
 
-void mbedtls_zeroize( void *buf, size_t len )
+void mbedtls_platform_zeroize( void *buf, size_t len )
 {
     memset_func( buf, 0, len );
 }
-#endif /* MBEDTLS_UTILS_ZEROIZE_ALT */
+#endif /* MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_ZEROIZE_ALT */