diff --git a/man2/prctl.2 b/man2/prctl.2
index 43edfe16f..67b3f17ec 100644
--- a/man2/prctl.2
+++ b/man2/prctl.2
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 .\"
 .TH PRCTL 2 2020-04-11 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
 .SH NAME
-prctl \- operations on a process
+prctl \- operations on a process or thread
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .nf
 .B #include <sys/prctl.h>
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ prctl \- operations on a process
 .fi
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .BR prctl ()
+manipulates various aspects of the behavior
+of the calling thread or process.
+.PP
+.BR prctl ()
 is called with a first argument describing what to do
 (with values defined in \fI<linux/prctl.h>\fP), and further
 arguments with a significance depending on the first one.