diff --git a/lib/libc/string/memcmp.3 b/lib/libc/string/memcmp.3
index e7666fe6d605..8f4980d61c05 100644
--- a/lib/libc/string/memcmp.3
+++ b/lib/libc/string/memcmp.3
@@ -1,82 +1,91 @@
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-.Dd August 15, 2016
+.Dd November 20, 2024
 .Dt MEMCMP 3
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
 .Nm memcmp
-.Nd compare byte string
+.Nd compare bytes in memory
 .Sh LIBRARY
 .Lb libc
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .In string.h
 .Ft int
 .Fn memcmp "const void *b1" "const void *b2" "size_t len"
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Fn memcmp
 function
-compares byte string
+compares byte object
 .Fa b1
-against byte string
+against byte object
 .Fa b2 .
-Both strings are assumed to be
+Both objects are assumed to be
 .Fa len
 bytes long.
 .Sh RETURN VALUES
 The
 .Fn memcmp
-function
-returns zero if the two strings are identical,
-otherwise returns the difference between the first two differing bytes
-(treated as
-.Vt "unsigned char"
-values, so that
-.Sq Li \e200
-is greater than
-.Sq Li \&\e0 ,
-for example).
-Zero-length strings are always identical.
+function returns zero if the two objects are identical.
+Zero-length objects are considered identical.
+The
+.Fn memcmp
+function returns a negative value if the first differing byte has a lower
+value in
+.Fa b1
+and a positive value if the first differing byte has a higher value in
+.Fa b1 .
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr bcmp 3 ,
 .Xr strcasecmp 3 ,
 .Xr strcmp 3 ,
 .Xr strcoll 3 ,
 .Xr strxfrm 3 ,
 .Xr timingsafe_memcmp 3 ,
 .Xr wmemcmp 3
 .Sh STANDARDS
 The
 .Fn memcmp
 function
 conforms to
 .St -isoC .
+.Sh CAVEATS
+If the objects differ, the C library
+.Fn memcmp
+implementation returns the difference between the first two differing bytes
+.Po treated as
+.Vt "unsigned char"
+values
+.Pc .
+This behavior is not specified by
+.St -isoC ,
+is not portable, and may not occur in light of compiler optimizations.