diff --git a/archive.c b/archive.c
index 78a67f0cf1..1944ed4e4d 100644
--- a/archive.c
+++ b/archive.c
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ static int parse_archive_args(int argc, const char **argv,
 			"write the archive to this file"),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "worktree-attributes", &worktree_attributes,
 			"read .gitattributes in working directory"),
-		OPT__VERBOSE(&verbose, "be verbose"),
+		OPT__VERBOSE(&verbose, "report archived files on stderr"),
 		OPT__COMPR('0', &compression_level, "store only", 0),
 		OPT__COMPR('1', &compression_level, "compress faster", 1),
 		OPT__COMPR_HIDDEN('2', &compression_level, 2),