diff --git a/src/_pytest/main.py b/src/_pytest/main.py
index 72e88b244..24b29a16f 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/main.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/main.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         "--deselect",
         action="append",
         metavar="nodeid_prefix",
-        help="deselect item during collection (multi-allowed).",
+        help="deselect item (via node id prefix) during collection (multi-allowed).",
     )
     # when changing this to --conf-cut-dir, config.py Conftest.setinitial
     # needs upgrading as well