diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/cm.py b/lib/matplotlib/cm.py
index ecd1179f1af0..ee36392594ed 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/cm.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/cm.py
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@ def set_clim(self, vmin=None, vmax=None):
         sequence, interpret it as ``(vmin, vmax)`` which is used to
         support setp
 
-        ACCEPTS: a length 2 sequence of floats
+        ACCEPTS: a length 2 sequence of floats; may be overridden in methods
+        that have ``vmin`` and ``vmax`` kwargs.
         """
         if vmax is None:
             try: