diff --git a/src/basic/os-util.c b/src/basic/os-util.c
index e6f9f7c511c..3d199f028d6 100644
--- a/src/basic/os-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/os-util.c
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ static int parse_release_internal(const char *root, const char *extension, va_li
         return parse_env_filev(f, p, ap);
 }
 
-int parse_extension_release(const char *root, const char *extension, ...) {
+int _parse_extension_release(const char *root, const char *extension, ...) {
         va_list ap;
         int r;
 
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ int parse_extension_release(const char *root, const char *extension, ...) {
         return r;
 }
 
-int parse_os_release(const char *root, ...) {
+int _parse_os_release(const char *root, ...) {
         va_list ap;
         int r;
 
diff --git a/src/basic/os-util.h b/src/basic/os-util.h
index f7789c08047..271b35fa4ef 100644
--- a/src/basic/os-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/os-util.h
@@ -23,8 +23,11 @@ static inline int fopen_os_release(const char *root, char **ret_path, FILE **ret
         return fopen_extension_release(root, NULL, ret_path, ret_file);
 }
 
-int parse_extension_release(const char *root, const char *extension, ...) _sentinel_;
-int parse_os_release(const char *root, ...) _sentinel_;
+int _parse_extension_release(const char *root, const char *extension, ...) _sentinel_;
+int _parse_os_release(const char *root, ...) _sentinel_;
+#define parse_extension_release(root, extension, ...) _parse_extension_release(root, extension, __VA_ARGS__, NULL)
+#define parse_os_release(root, ...) _parse_os_release(root, __VA_ARGS__, NULL)
+
 int load_extension_release_pairs(const char *root, const char *extension, char ***ret);
 int load_os_release_pairs(const char *root, char ***ret);
 int load_os_release_pairs_with_prefix(const char *root, const char *prefix, char ***ret);
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 12ac2ba3c61..1b47226d739 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -1352,8 +1352,7 @@ static int status_welcome(void) {
 
         r = parse_os_release(NULL,
                              "PRETTY_NAME", &pretty_name,
-                             "ANSI_COLOR", &ansi_color,
-                             NULL);
+                             "ANSI_COLOR", &ansi_color);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_full_errno(r == -ENOENT ? LOG_DEBUG : LOG_WARNING, r,
                                "Failed to read os-release file, ignoring: %m");
diff --git a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
index 40f0de28c29..c0e88e7915d 100644
--- a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
+++ b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
@@ -106,8 +106,7 @@ static void print_welcome(void) {
         r = parse_os_release(
                         arg_root,
                         "PRETTY_NAME", &pretty_name,
-                        "ANSI_COLOR", &ansi_color,
-                        NULL);
+                        "ANSI_COLOR", &ansi_color);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_full_errno(r == -ENOENT ? LOG_DEBUG : LOG_WARNING, r,
                                "Failed to read os-release file, ignoring: %m");
diff --git a/src/hostname/hostnamed.c b/src/hostname/hostnamed.c
index 34333a65307..eb06957397c 100644
--- a/src/hostname/hostnamed.c
+++ b/src/hostname/hostnamed.c
@@ -159,8 +159,7 @@ static void context_read_os_release(Context *c) {
         r = parse_os_release(NULL,
                              "PRETTY_NAME", &c->data[PROP_OS_PRETTY_NAME],
                              "CPE_NAME", &c->data[PROP_OS_CPE_NAME],
-                             "HOME_URL", &c->data[PROP_OS_HOME_URL],
-                             NULL);
+                             "HOME_URL", &c->data[PROP_OS_HOME_URL]);
         if (r < 0 && r != -ENOENT)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Failed to read os-release file, ignoring: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c b/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
index 4ece66b51bb..bd1edb1797d 100644
--- a/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
+++ b/src/journal-remote/journal-gatewayd.c
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@ static int request_handler_machine(
         if (r < 0)
                 return mhd_respondf(connection, r, MHD_HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "Failed to determine disk usage: %m");
 
-        (void) parse_os_release(NULL, "PRETTY_NAME", &os_name, NULL);
+        (void) parse_os_release(NULL, "PRETTY_NAME", &os_name);
         (void) get_virtualization(&v);
 
         r = asprintf(&json,
diff --git a/src/shared/specifier.c b/src/shared/specifier.c
index 86731f8cd23..24e8781805a 100644
--- a/src/shared/specifier.c
+++ b/src/shared/specifier.c
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ static int specifier_os_release_common(const char *field, char **ret) {
         char *t = NULL;
         int r;
 
-        r = parse_os_release(NULL, field, &t, NULL);
+        r = parse_os_release(NULL, field, &t);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
         if (!t) {
diff --git a/src/sysext/sysext.c b/src/sysext/sysext.c
index e06108d3a12..60f4dee3530 100644
--- a/src/sysext/sysext.c
+++ b/src/sysext/sysext.c
@@ -473,8 +473,7 @@ static int merge_subprocess(Hashmap *images, const char *workspace) {
                         arg_root,
                         "ID", &host_os_release_id,
                         "VERSION_ID", &host_os_release_version_id,
-                        "SYSEXT_LEVEL", &host_os_release_sysext_level,
-                        NULL);
+                        "SYSEXT_LEVEL", &host_os_release_sysext_level);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to acquire 'os-release' data of OS tree '%s': %m", empty_to_root(arg_root));