diff --git a/Documentation/git-describe.txt b/Documentation/git-describe.txt
index 3d79f05995..a30c5ac966 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-describe.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-describe.txt
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ OPTIONS
 	Automatically implies --tags.
 
 --abbrev=<n>::
-	Instead of using the default 8 hexadecimal digits as the
+	Instead of using the default 7 hexadecimal digits as the
 	abbreviated object name, use <n> digits.
 
 --candidates=<n>::