diff --git a/man2/mkdir.2 b/man2/mkdir.2
index 1432f3ade..a5c0871ed 100644
--- a/man2/mkdir.2
+++ b/man2/mkdir.2
@@ -51,11 +51,12 @@ attempts to create a directory named
 
 The argument
 .I mode
-specifies the permissions to use.
+specifies the file mode for the new directory (see
+.BR stat (2)).
 It is modified by the process's
 .I umask
-in the usual way: in the absence of a default ACL, the permissions of the
-created directory are
+in the usual way: in the absence of a default ACL, the mode of the
+created directory is
 .RI ( mode " & ~" umask " & 0777)."
 Other mode bits of the created directory depend on the operating system.
 For Linux, see below.