diff --git a/datasette/views/table.py b/datasette/views/table.py
index 8e6d8e4a..8b987221 100644
--- a/datasette/views/table.py
+++ b/datasette/views/table.py
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ class TableInsertView(BaseView):
             if not isinstance(row, dict):
                 return _errors(['"row" must be a dictionary'])
             rows = [row]
-            data["return_rows"] = True
+            data["return"] = True
         else:
             rows = data["rows"]
         if not isinstance(rows, list):
@@ -1137,7 +1137,7 @@ class TableInsertView(BaseView):
         extras = {
             key: value for key, value in data.items() if key not in ("row", "rows")
         }
-        valid_extras = {"return_rows", "ignore", "replace"}
+        valid_extras = {"return", "ignore", "replace"}
         invalid_extras = extras.keys() - valid_extras
         if invalid_extras:
             return _errors(
@@ -1185,7 +1185,7 @@ class TableInsertView(BaseView):
         ignore = extras.get("ignore")
         replace = extras.get("replace")
 
-        should_return = bool(extras.get("return_rows", False))
+        should_return = bool(extras.get("return", False))
         # Insert rows
         def insert_rows(conn):
             table = sqlite_utils.Database(conn)[table_name]
diff --git a/docs/json_api.rst b/docs/json_api.rst
index 64a58ce3..842285cf 100644
--- a/docs/json_api.rst
+++ b/docs/json_api.rst
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ To insert multiple rows at a time, use the same API method but send a list of di
 
 If successful, this will return a ``201`` status code and an empty ``{}`` response body.
 
-To return the newly inserted rows, add the ``"return_rows": true`` key to the request body:
+To return the newly inserted rows, add the ``"return": true`` key to the request body:
 
 .. code-block:: json
 
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ To return the newly inserted rows, add the ``"return_rows": true`` key to the re
                 "column2": "value4"
             }
         ],
-        "return_rows": true
+        "return": true
     }
 
 This will return the same ``"rows"`` key as the single row example above. There is a small performance penalty for using this option.
diff --git a/tests/test_api_write.py b/tests/test_api_write.py
index 6ae3ac3f..5568279c 100644
--- a/tests/test_api_write.py
+++ b/tests/test_api_write.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ async def test_write_rows(ds_write, return_rows):
     token = write_token(ds_write)
     data = {"rows": [{"title": "Test {}".format(i), "score": 1.0} for i in range(20)]}
     if return_rows:
-        data["return_rows"] = True
+        data["return"] = True
     response = await ds_write.client.post(
         "/data/docs/-/insert",
         json=data,
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ async def test_insert_ignore_replace(
     if replace:
         data["replace"] = True
     if should_return:
-        data["return_rows"] = True
+        data["return"] = True
     response = await ds_write.client.post(
         "/data/docs/-/insert",
         json=data,
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ async def test_delete_row(ds_write, scenario):
     # Insert a row
     insert_response = await ds_write.client.post(
         "/data/docs/-/insert",
-        json={"row": {"title": "Row one", "score": 1.0}, "return_rows": True},
+        json={"row": {"title": "Row one", "score": 1.0}, "return": True},
         headers={
             "Authorization": "Bearer {}".format(write_token(ds_write)),
             "Content-Type": "application/json",