diff --git a/doc/ffmpeg-formats.texi b/doc/ffmpeg-formats.texi
index 30cf415d14..381e3256ad 100644
--- a/doc/ffmpeg-formats.texi
+++ b/doc/ffmpeg-formats.texi
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ Use wallclock as timestamps.
 @item avoid_negative_ts @var{integer} (@emph{output})
 Shift timestamps to make them positive. 1 enables, 0 disables, default
 of -1 enables when required by target format.
+When timestamps are shifted, all timestamps of a output file are shifted
+together by the same amount. AV sync, subtitle sync and relative timestamp
+differences are preserved compared to how they would have been without
+shifting.
 @end table
 
 @c man end FORMAT OPTIONS