diff --git a/doc/cli/npm-prefix.md b/doc/cli/npm-prefix.md
index f262a36a752b5..d36e538132fb2 100644
--- a/doc/cli/npm-prefix.md
+++ b/doc/cli/npm-prefix.md
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ npm-prefix(1) -- Display prefix
 ## DESCRIPTION
 
 Print the local prefix to standard out. This is the closest parent directory
-to contain a package.json file unless `-g` is also specified.
+to contain a `package.json` file or `node_modules` directory, unless `-g` is
+also specified.
 
 If `-g` is specified, this will be the value of the global prefix. See
 `npm-config(7)` for more detail.