diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index cfdd040b5e03e271e0f5cad981dc7eb13918d623..7477d322a394de844e001ee41d8aef3b08d5ec72 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ static const vshCmdOptDef opts_list[] = {
     {"name", VSH_OT_BOOL, 0, N_("list domain names only")},
     {"table", VSH_OT_BOOL, 0, N_("list table (default)")},
     {"managed-save", VSH_OT_BOOL, 0,
-     N_("mark domains with managed save state")},
+     N_("mark inactive domains with managed save state")},
     {"title", VSH_OT_BOOL, 0, N_("show short domain description")},
     {NULL, 0, 0, NULL}
 };
diff --git a/tools/virsh.pod b/tools/virsh.pod
index a60e66770adace36ba532b92376c9046e6055d4c..c6e0ff3c546b6326eca54fc99512b4b4f79284b1 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.pod
+++ b/tools/virsh.pod
@@ -381,8 +381,9 @@ into s3 state.
 =back
 
 If I<--managed-save> is specified, then domains that have managed save
-state (only possible if they are in the B<shut off> state) will
-instead show as B<saved> in the listing. This flag is usable only with the
+state (only possible if they are in the B<shut off> state, so you need to
+specify I<--inactive> or I<--all> to actually list them) will instead
+show as B<saved> in the listing. This flag is usable only with the
 default I<--table> output.
 
 If I<--name> is specified, domain names are printed instead of the table