diff --git a/docs/manual/make-tips.txt b/docs/manual/make-tips.txt
index ea1d825bef..869b6807dd 100644
--- a/docs/manual/make-tips.txt
+++ b/docs/manual/make-tips.txt
@@ -80,18 +80,18 @@ to xref:ccache[].
 
 .Dumping the internal make variables:
 
-One can dump all the variables known to make, along with their values:
+One can dump the variables known to make, along with their values:
 
 ----
- $ make -s printvars
- VARIABLE=value_of_variable
- ...
+ $ make -s printvars VARS='VARIABLE1 VARIABLE2'
+ VARIABLE1=value_of_variable
+ VARIABLE2=value_of_variable
 ----
 
 It is possible to tweak the output using some variables:
 
 - +VARS+ will limit the listing to variables which names match the
-  specified make-pattern
+  specified make-patterns - this must be set else nothing is printed
 - +QUOTED_VARS+, if set to +YES+, will single-quote the value
 - +RAW_VARS+, if set to +YES+, will print the unexpanded value