diff --git a/Documentation/merge-options.txt b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
index 63a3fc0954..92a7d936c1 100644
--- a/Documentation/merge-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@
 	Perform the merge and commit the result. This option can
 	be used to override --no-commit.
 +
-With --no-commit perform the merge but pretend the merge
-failed and do not autocommit, to give the user a chance to
-inspect and further tweak the merge result before committing.
+With --no-commit perform the merge and stop just before creating
+a merge commit, to give the user a chance to inspect and further
+tweak the merge result before committing.
++
+Note that fast-forward updates do not create a merge commit and
+therefore there is no way to stop those merges with --no-commit.
+Thus, if you want to ensure your branch is not changed or updated
+by the merge command, use --no-ff with --no-commit.
 
 --edit::
 -e::