diff --git a/libavcodec/packet.h b/libavcodec/packet.h
index 41485f4527..96f237f091 100644
--- a/libavcodec/packet.h
+++ b/libavcodec/packet.h
@@ -580,7 +580,8 @@ int av_packet_shrink_side_data(AVPacket *pkt, enum AVPacketSideDataType type,
  *
  * @param pkt packet
  * @param type desired side information type
- * @param size pointer for side information size to store (optional)
+ * @param size If supplied, *size will be set to the size of the side data
+ *             or to zero if the desired side data is not present.
  * @return pointer to data if present or NULL otherwise
  */
 uint8_t* av_packet_get_side_data(const AVPacket *pkt, enum AVPacketSideDataType type,