diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
index 21d22869e84..d9aa7c96072 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
@@ -17366,7 +17366,9 @@ SELECT currval(pg_get_serial_sequence('sometable', 'id'));
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry><literal>backward_scan</literal></entry>
-      <entry>Can the index be scanned backwards?
+      <entry>Can the scan direction be changed in mid-scan (to
+             support <literal>FETCH BACKWARD</literal> on a cursor without
+             needing materialization)?
       </entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>