diff --git a/doc/emacs/search.texi b/doc/emacs/search.texi
index 8a101f1150b..761161be1c0 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/search.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/search.texi
@@ -1332,9 +1332,8 @@ precisely, Emacs matches each sequence of space characters in the
 search string to a regular expression specified by the variable
 @code{search-whitespace-regexp}.  For example, to make spaces match
 sequences of newlines as well as spaces, set it to
-@samp{"[[:space:]\n]+"}.  The default value of this variable depends
-on the buffer's major mode; most major modes classify spaces, tabs,
-and formfeed characters as whitespace.
+@samp{"[[:space:]\n]+"}.  The default value of this variable considers
+any sequence of spaces and tab characters as whitespace.
 
   If you want whitespace characters to match exactly, you can turn lax
 space matching off by typing @kbd{M-s @key{SPC}}