diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/vae.py b/src/diffusers/models/vae.py
index da08bc360942..0f849a66eaea 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/models/vae.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/models/vae.py
@@ -130,9 +130,9 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.gradient_checkpointing = False
 
-    def forward(self, x: torch.FloatTensor) -> torch.FloatTensor:
+    def forward(self, sample: torch.FloatTensor) -> torch.FloatTensor:
         r"""The forward method of the `Encoder` class."""
-        sample = x
+
         sample = self.conv_in(sample)
 
         if self.training and self.gradient_checkpointing:
@@ -273,9 +273,11 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.gradient_checkpointing = False
 
-    def forward(self, z: torch.FloatTensor, latent_embeds: Optional[torch.FloatTensor] = None) -> torch.FloatTensor:
+    def forward(
+        self, sample: torch.FloatTensor, latent_embeds: Optional[torch.FloatTensor] = None
+    ) -> torch.FloatTensor:
         r"""The forward method of the `Decoder` class."""
-        sample = z
+
         sample = self.conv_in(sample)
 
         upscale_dtype = next(iter(self.up_blocks.parameters())).dtype