diff --git a/man2/select.2 b/man2/select.2
index e3f1d4d67..c34689624 100644
--- a/man2/select.2
+++ b/man2/select.2
@@ -319,8 +319,9 @@ return the number of file descriptors contained in the three returned
 descriptor sets (that is, the total number of bits that are set in
 .IR readfds ,
 .IR writefds ,
-.IR exceptfds )
-which may be zero if the timeout expires before anything interesting happens.
+.IR exceptfds ).
+The return value may be zero if the timeout expired before any
+file descriptors became ready.
 .PP
 On error, \-1 is returned, and
 .I errno