diff --git a/src/H5T.c b/src/H5T.c
index 4ad4f2dbf97..b795aa0be36 100644
--- a/src/H5T.c
+++ b/src/H5T.c
@@ -3794,9 +3794,9 @@ H5T_encode(H5T_t *obj, unsigned char *buf, size_t *nalloc)
  * Purpose:   Private function for H5Tdecode.  Reconstructs a binary
  *            description of datatype and returns a new object handle.
  *
- * Return:    Success:    datatype ID(non-negative)
+ * Return:    Success:    Pointer to the new type.
  *
- *            Failure:    negative
+ *            Failure:    NULL
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */