diff --git a/doc/src/thermo_modify.rst b/doc/src/thermo_modify.rst
index fc8f66b90b..6d56f60276 100644
--- a/doc/src/thermo_modify.rst
+++ b/doc/src/thermo_modify.rst
@@ -96,9 +96,11 @@ always include a divide by the number of atoms in the variable formula
 if this is not the case.
 
 The *flush* keyword invokes a flush operation after thermodynamic info
-is written to the log file.  This insures the output in that file is
-current (no buffering by the OS), even if LAMMPS halts before the
-simulation completes.
+is written to the screen and log file.  This insures the output is
+updated and not buffered (by the application) even if LAMMPS halts
+before the simulation completes.  Please note that this does not
+affect buffering by the OS or devices, so you may still lose data
+in case the simulation stops due to a hardware failure.
 
 The *line* keyword determines whether thermodynamics will be output as
 a series of numeric values on one line or in a multi-line format with