diff --git a/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5 b/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5
index 42dbc940074c..6a24424de2fe 100644
--- a/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5
+++ b/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5
@@ -124,7 +124,8 @@ The
 .Fl width
 argument to the
 .Sy \&.Bl
-macro should match the length of the longest item in the list, e.g.:
+macro should match the length of the rendered first longest item in the list,
+e.g.:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.Bl -tag -width "-a address"
 \&.It Fl a Ar address