diff --git a/share/man/man4/witness.4 b/share/man/man4/witness.4
index 7aa655323689..c0014fa79d1c 100644
--- a/share/man/man4/witness.4
+++ b/share/man/man4/witness.4
@@ -95,9 +95,10 @@ The sysctl
 .Va debug.witness.watch
 specifies the level of witness involvement in the system.
 A value of 1 specifies that witness is enabled.
-A value of 0 specifies that witness is disabled.
-This sysctl can be written to in order to
-disable witness, however it may not be used to enable witness.
+A value of 0 specifies that witness is disabled, but that can be enabled
+again.  This will maintain a small amount of overhead in the system.
+A value of -1 specifies that witness is disabled permanently and that
+cannot be enabled again.
 The sysctl
 .Va debug.witness.watch
 can be set via