diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.html.in b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
index 438cbf0e421c1b6640bc04620f863d3df92cc029..5523fc7becf7b47958e787cc962f610fb219af5a 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
@@ -314,7 +314,11 @@
       <dt><code>memtune</code></dt>
       <dd> The optional <code>memtune</code> element provides details
         regarding the memory tunable parameters for the domain. If this is
-        omitted, it defaults to the OS provided defaults.</dd>
+        omitted, it defaults to the OS provided defaults. For QEMU/KVMi, the
+        parameters are applied to the QEMU process as a whole. Thus, when
+        counting them, one needs to add up guest RAM, guest video RAM, and
+        some memory overhead of QEMU itself. The last piece is hard to
+        determine so one needs guess and try.</dd>
       <dt><code>hard_limit</code></dt>
       <dd> The optional <code>hard_limit</code> element is the maximum memory
         the guest can use. The units for this value are kilobytes (i.e. blocks
diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index 3c759b948d267a02715e00099b695312ae23f238..19e344951c4fca60205a14a39bacda17f23e2b9c 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -3202,7 +3202,7 @@ static const vshCmdOptDef opts_memtune[] = {
     {"soft-limit", VSH_OT_INT, VSH_OFLAG_NONE,
      N_("Memory during contention in kilobytes")},
     {"swap-hard-limit", VSH_OT_INT, VSH_OFLAG_NONE,
-     N_("Max swap in kilobytes")},
+     N_("Max memory plus swap in kilobytes")},
     {"min-guarantee", VSH_OT_INT, VSH_OFLAG_NONE,
      N_("Min guaranteed memory in kilobytes")},
     {NULL, 0, 0, NULL}
diff --git a/tools/virsh.pod b/tools/virsh.pod
index e882261258cc40b9719b9de9c7e7c31220b9d75d..f4bd294a7147f54c978929780d047f0dc94696ea 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.pod
+++ b/tools/virsh.pod
@@ -611,12 +611,42 @@ use the virsh B<edit> command instead to update its XML <memory> element.
 
 =item B<memtune> I<domain-id> optional I<--hard-limit> B<kilobytes>
 optional I<--soft-limit> B<kilobytes> optional I<--swap-hard-limit>
-B<kilobytes> -I<--min-guarantee> B<kilobytes>
+B<kilobytes> optional I<--min-guarantee> B<kilobytes>
 
 Allows you to display or set the domain memory parameters. Without
 flags, the current settings are displayed; with a flag, the
 appropriate limit is adjusted if supported by the hypervisor.  LXC and
-QEMU/KVM supports I<--hard-limit>, I<--soft-limit>, and I<--swap-hard-limit>.
+QEMU/KVM support I<--hard-limit>, I<--soft-limit>, and I<--swap-hard-limit>.
+
+For QEMU/KVM, the parameters are applied to the QEMU process as a whole.
+Thus, when counting them, one needs to add up guest RAM, guest video RAM, and
+some memory overhead of QEMU itself.  The last piece is hard to determine so
+one needs guess and try.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item I<--hard-limit>
+
+The maximum memory the guest can use.  The units for this value are kilobytes
+(i.e. blocks of 1024 bytes).
+
+=item I<--soft-limit>
+
+The memory limit to enforce during memory contention.  The units for this
+value are kilobytes (i.e. blocks of 1024 bytes).
+
+=item I<--swap-hard-limit>
+
+The maximum memory plus swap the guest can use.  The units for this value are
+kilobytes (i.e. blocks of 1024 bytes).  This has to be more than hard-limit
+value provided.
+
+=item I<--min-guarantee>
+
+The guaranteed minimum memory allocation for the guest.  The units for this
+value are kilobytes (i.e. blocks of 1024 bytes).
+
+=back
 
 =item B<blkiotune> I<domain-id> optional I<--weight> B<weight>