diff --git a/man3/getutent.3 b/man3/getutent.3
index 5df297812..46393db40 100644
--- a/man3/getutent.3
+++ b/man3/getutent.3
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ will append the new entry to the end of the file.
 .BR getutid (),
 and
 .BR getutline ()
-return a pointer to a \fIstruct utmp\fP on success, and NULL on failure.
+return a pointer to a \fIstruct utmp\fP on success,
+and NULL on failure (which includes the "record not found" case).
 This \fIstruct utmp\fP is allocated in static storage, and may be
 overwritten by subsequent calls.