diff --git a/cli/command/service/update.go b/cli/command/service/update.go
index 6ee0dfc742..22a3d2f899 100644
--- a/cli/command/service/update.go
+++ b/cli/command/service/update.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func newUpdateCommand(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 	flags.SetAnnotation(flagDNSOptionAdd, "version", []string{"1.25"})
 	flags.Var(&options.dnsSearch, flagDNSSearchAdd, "Add or update a custom DNS search domain")
 	flags.SetAnnotation(flagDNSSearchAdd, "version", []string{"1.25"})
-	flags.Var(&options.hosts, flagHostAdd, "Add or update a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip)")
+	flags.Var(&options.hosts, flagHostAdd, "Add a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip)")
 	flags.SetAnnotation(flagHostAdd, "version", []string{"1.25"})
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/docs/reference/commandline/service_update.md b/docs/reference/commandline/service_update.md
index f085e871de..7f27f84f4c 100644
--- a/docs/reference/commandline/service_update.md
+++ b/docs/reference/commandline/service_update.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Options:
       --health-start-period duration       Start period for the container to initialize before counting retries towards unstable (ms|s|m|h)
       --health-timeout duration            Maximum time to allow one check to run (ms|s|m|h)
       --help                               Print usage
-      --host-add list                      Add or update a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip)
+      --host-add list                      Add a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip)
       --host-rm list                       Remove a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip)
       --hostname string                    Container hostname
       --image string                       Service image tag