2 files changed, 7 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/doc/emacs/files.texi b/doc/emacs/files.texi
index 0cf46b6df1c..ca4f2239537 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/files.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/files.texi
@@ -1572,10 +1572,10 @@ file @var{new}.
 
 @findex copy-directory
   @kbd{M-x copy-directory} copies directories, similar to the
-@command{cp -r} shell command.  If @var{new} is an existing directory,
-it creates a copy of the @var{old} directory and puts it in @var{new}.
-If @var{new} is not an existing directory, it copies all the contents
-of @var{old} into a new directory named @var{new}.
+@command{cp -r} shell command.  If @var{new} is a directory name, it
+creates a copy of the @var{old} directory and puts it in @var{new}.
+Otherwise it copies all the contents of @var{old} into a new directory
+named @var{new}.
 
 @cindex renaming files
 @findex rename-file
diff --git a/doc/lispref/files.texi b/doc/lispref/files.texi
index eacaf046370..901382fe9bd 100644
--- a/doc/lispref/files.texi
+++ b/doc/lispref/files.texi
@@ -2976,8 +2976,9 @@ if they don't already exist.
 
 @deffn Command copy-directory dirname newname &optional keep-time parents copy-contents
 This command copies the directory named @var{dirname} to
-@var{newname}.  If @var{newname} names an existing directory,
+@var{newname}.  If @var{newname} is a directory name,
 @var{dirname} will be copied to a subdirectory there.
+@xref{Directory Names}.
 
 It always sets the file modes of the copied files to match the
 corresponding original file.
@@ -2992,7 +2993,7 @@ this happens by default.
 
 The fifth argument @var{copy-contents}, if non-@code{nil}, means to
 copy the contents of @var{dirname} directly into @var{newname} if the
-latter is an existing directory, instead of copying @var{dirname} into
+latter is a directory name, instead of copying @var{dirname} into
 it as a subdirectory.
 @end deffn