diff --git a/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md b/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
index 5e2248918753..974f8747936a 100644
--- a/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
+++ b/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ This generic command invokes a number of *phases*. Package builds are split into
 
 Each phase can be overridden in its entirety either by setting the environment variable `namePhase` to a string containing some shell commands to be executed, or by redefining the shell function `namePhase`. The former is convenient to override a phase from the derivation, while the latter is convenient from a build script. However, typically one only wants to *add* some commands to a phase, e.g. by defining `postInstall` or `preFixup`, as skipping some of the default actions may have unexpected consequences. The default script for each phase is defined in the file `pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh`.
 
-If you want to run all phases in `nix-shell`, you can invoke `genericBuild` yourself in the interactive shell.
+While inside an interactive `nix-shell`, if you wanted to run all phases in the order they would be run in an actual build, you can invoke `genericBuild` yourself.
 
 ### Controlling phases {#ssec-controlling-phases}