diff --git a/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/launcher/resources/launcher.properties b/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/launcher/resources/launcher.properties
index c6aee63bf9c..9960b026d11 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/launcher/resources/launcher.properties
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/launcher/resources/launcher.properties
@@ -50,12 +50,14 @@ java.launcher.opt.footer = \
 \                  and ZIP archives to search for class files.\n\
 \    -p <module path>\n\
 \    --module-path <module path>...\n\
-\                  A {0} separated list of directories, each directory\n\
-\                  is a directory of modules.\n\
+\                  A {0} separated list of elements, each element is a file path\n\
+\                  to a module or a directory containing modules. Each module is either\n\
+\                  a modular JAR or an exploded-module directory.\n\
 \    --upgrade-module-path <module path>...\n\
-\                  A {0} separated list of directories, each directory\n\
-\                  is a directory of modules that replace upgradeable\n\
-\                  modules in the runtime image\n\
+\                  A {0} separated list of elements, each element is a file path\n\
+\                  to a module or a directory containing modules to replace\n\
+\                  upgradeable modules in the runtime image. Each module is either\n\
+\                  a modular JAR or an exploded-module directory.\n\
 \    --add-modules <module name>[,<module name>...]\n\
 \                  root modules to resolve in addition to the initial module.\n\
 \                  <module name> can also be ALL-DEFAULT, ALL-SYSTEM,\n\
diff --git a/src/java.base/share/man/java.1 b/src/java.base/share/man/java.1
index fb2225d682a..acc5fa8e4d0 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/man/java.1
+++ b/src/java.base/share/man/java.1
@@ -530,20 +530,25 @@ The value \[dq]disabled\[dq] disables finalization, so that no
 finalizers are invoked.
 .TP
 \f[V]--module-path\f[R] \f[I]modulepath\f[R]... or \f[V]-p\f[R] \f[I]modulepath\f[R]
-Specifies a list of directories in which each directory is a directory
-of modules.
+Specifies where to find application modules with a list of path elements.
+The elements of a module path can be a file path to a module or a directory
+containing modules. Each module is either a modular JAR or an
+exploded-module directory.
 .RS
 .PP
-On Windows, semicolons (\f[V];\f[R]) separate directories in this list;
+On Windows, semicolons (\f[V];\f[R]) separate path elements in this list;
 on other platforms it is a colon (\f[V]:\f[R]).
 .RE
 .TP
 \f[V]--upgrade-module-path\f[R] \f[I]modulepath\f[R]...
-Specifies a list of directories in which each directory is a directory
-of modules that replace upgradeable modules in the runtime image.
+Specifies where to find module replacements of upgradeable modules in the
+runtime image with a list of path elements.
+The elements of a module path can be a file path to a module or a directory
+containing modules. Each module is either a modular JAR or an
+exploded-module directory.
 .RS
 .PP
-On Windows, semicolons (\f[V];\f[R]) separate directories in this list;
+On Windows, semicolons (\f[V];\f[R]) separate path elements in this list;
 on other platforms it is a colon (\f[V]:\f[R]).
 .RE
 .TP