diff --git a/man7/environ.7 b/man7/environ.7
index f683b6028..8f89ba86b 100644
--- a/man7/environ.7
+++ b/man7/environ.7
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ of its parent's environment.
 By convention, the strings in
 .I environ
 have the form "\fIname\fP\fB=\fP\fIvalue\fP".
-Names of environment variables are case-sensitive and must not contain
-the character "\fB=\fP". The values of environment variables can be anything
-that can be represented as a string. A value and a name must not contain an
-embedded null byte (\(aq\e0\(aq),
+The name is case-sensitive and may not contain
+the character "\fB=\fP".
+The value can be anything that can be represented as a string.
+The name and the value may not contain an embedded null byte (\(aq\e0\(aq),
 since this is assumed to terminate the string.
 .PP
 Common examples are: