A hydraulic valve lifter including venting means to assure venting of air through the lifter and filling thereof with oil during pre-start filling of the engine oil galleries after engine assembly. Patterning of a hemispherical pushrod seat surface, and/or patterning of either or both of the mating surfaces of a pushrod seat and a piston, permits air purged from the engine through a pushrod to be vented through the lifter. Such means may be temporary or permanent and may include coatings of the surfaces with materials that are destroyed by engine action after starting. Permanent means may include surface grooves in the mating surfaces and/or small-diameter passages between the hemispherical seat surface and the cylindrical outer surface of the pushrod seat. Venting means in accordance with the invention is useful for both valve-deactivating and non-valve-deactivating valve lifters.