diff --git a/sbin/ping/ping.8 b/sbin/ping/ping.8
index 2d8110d75599..ef133e844680 100644
--- a/sbin/ping/ping.8
+++ b/sbin/ping/ping.8
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 .\"     @(#)ping.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd March 1, 1997
+.Dd September 25, 2001
 .Dt PING 8
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -81,11 +81,14 @@ bytes used to fill out the packet.  The options are as follows:
 .Bl -tag -width indent
 .It Fl A
 Audible.
-Include a bell
+Output a bell
 .Tn ( ASCII
 0x07)
-character in the output when no packet is received before the next packet
+character when no packet is received before the next packet
 is transmitted.
+To cater for round-trip times that are longer than the interval
+between transmissions, further missing packets cause a bell only
+if the maximum number of unreceived packets has increased.
 .It Fl a
 Audible.
 Include a bell
diff --git a/sbin/ping/ping.c b/sbin/ping/ping.c
index 5840b8f70dda..0c6b3cbc32fd 100644
--- a/sbin/ping/ping.c
+++ b/sbin/ping/ping.c
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ long npackets;			/* max packets to transmit */
 long nreceived;			/* # of packets we got back */
 long nrepeats;			/* number of duplicates */
 long ntransmitted;		/* sequence # for outbound packets = #sent */
+long nmissedmax;		/* max value of ntransmitted - nreceived - 1 */
 int interval = 1000;		/* interval between packets, ms */
 
 /* timing */
@@ -706,8 +707,11 @@ main(argc, argv)
 			}
 			(void)gettimeofday(&last, NULL);
 
-			if (ntransmitted != nreceived+1 && options & F_MISSED)
-				(void)write(STDOUT_FILENO, &BBELL, 1);
+			if (ntransmitted - nreceived - 1 > nmissedmax) {
+				nmissedmax = ntransmitted - nreceived - 1;
+				if (options & F_MISSED)
+					(void)write(STDOUT_FILENO, &BBELL, 1);
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	finish();