diff --git a/builtin/show-ref.c b/builtin/show-ref.c
index 839a5c29f3..85700caae9 100644
--- a/builtin/show-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/show-ref.c
@@ -293,8 +293,8 @@ int cmd_show_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct show_one_options show_one_opts = {0};
 	int verify = 0, exists = 0;
 	const struct option show_ref_options[] = {
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "tags", &patterns_opts.tags_only, N_("only show tags (can be combined with branches)")),
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "branches", &patterns_opts.branches_only, N_("only show branches (can be combined with tags)")),
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "tags", &patterns_opts.tags_only, N_("only show tags (can be combined with --branches)")),
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "branches", &patterns_opts.branches_only, N_("only show branches (can be combined with --tags)")),
 		OPT_HIDDEN_BOOL(0, "heads", &patterns_opts.branches_only,
 				N_("deprecated synonym for --branches")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "exists", &exists, N_("check for reference existence without resolving")),