diff --git a/man8/ld.so.8 b/man8/ld.so.8
index fd9c4a8a1..c0e2bca3e 100644
--- a/man8/ld.so.8
+++ b/man8/ld.so.8
@@ -446,10 +446,13 @@ is ignored in secure-execution mode, unless the file
 exists (the content of the file is irrelevant).
 .TP
 .BR LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT " (since glibc 2.1)"
-File in which
+By default,
 .B LD_DEBUG
-output should be written.
-The default is standard error.
+output is written to standard error.
+If
+.B LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT
+is defined, then output is written to the pathname specified by its value,
+with the suffix "." (dot) followed by the process ID appended to the pathname.
 
 .B LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT
 is ignored in secure-execution mode.