diff --git a/changelog/5188.doc.rst b/changelog/5188.doc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..726745638
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/5188.doc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Improve help for ``--runxfail`` flag.
diff --git a/src/_pytest/skipping.py b/src/_pytest/skipping.py
index 22acafbdd..5525e1137 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/skipping.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/skipping.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         action="store_true",
         dest="runxfail",
         default=False,
-        help="run tests even if they are marked xfail",
+        help="report the results of xfail tests as if they were not marked",
     )
 
     parser.addini(