diff --git a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/nodeipamcontroller.go b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/nodeipamcontroller.go
index 0a897e472bd..00e6fa47d6c 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/nodeipamcontroller.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/nodeipamcontroller.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func (o *NodeIPAMControllerOptions) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	if o == nil {
 		return
 	}
-	fs.StringVar(&o.ServiceCIDR, "service-cluster-ip-range", o.ServiceCIDR, "CIDR Range for Services in cluster. Requires --allocate-node-cidrs to be true")
+	fs.StringVar(&o.ServiceCIDR, "service-cluster-ip-range", o.ServiceCIDR, "CIDR Range for Services in cluster. Only used when --allocate-node-cidrs=true; if false, this option will be ignored.")
 	fs.Int32Var(&o.NodeCIDRMaskSize, "node-cidr-mask-size", o.NodeCIDRMaskSize, "Mask size for node cidr in cluster. Default is 24 for IPv4 and 64 for IPv6.")
 	fs.Int32Var(&o.NodeCIDRMaskSizeIPv4, "node-cidr-mask-size-ipv4", o.NodeCIDRMaskSizeIPv4, "Mask size for IPv4 node cidr in dual-stack cluster. Default is 24.")
 	fs.Int32Var(&o.NodeCIDRMaskSizeIPv6, "node-cidr-mask-size-ipv6", o.NodeCIDRMaskSizeIPv6, "Mask size for IPv6 node cidr in dual-stack cluster. Default is 64.")
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/kubecloudshared.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/kubecloudshared.go
index 988eade1c40..08a2f01b817 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/kubecloudshared.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/kubecloudshared.go
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ func (o *KubeCloudSharedOptions) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.DurationVar(&o.NodeMonitorPeriod.Duration, "node-monitor-period", o.NodeMonitorPeriod.Duration,
 		fmt.Sprintf("The period for syncing NodeStatus in %s.", names.CloudNodeLifecycleController))
 	fs.StringVar(&o.ClusterName, "cluster-name", o.ClusterName, "The instance prefix for the cluster.")
-	fs.StringVar(&o.ClusterCIDR, "cluster-cidr", o.ClusterCIDR, "CIDR Range for Pods in cluster. Requires --allocate-node-cidrs to be true")
-	fs.BoolVar(&o.AllocateNodeCIDRs, "allocate-node-cidrs", false, "Should CIDRs for Pods be allocated and set on the cloud provider.")
+	fs.StringVar(&o.ClusterCIDR, "cluster-cidr", o.ClusterCIDR, "CIDR Range for Pods in cluster. Only used when --allocate-node-cidrs=true; if false, this option will be ignored.")
+	fs.BoolVar(&o.AllocateNodeCIDRs, "allocate-node-cidrs", false, "Should CIDRs for Pods be allocated and set on the cloud provider. Requires --cluster-cidr.")
 	fs.StringVar(&o.CIDRAllocatorType, "cidr-allocator-type", "RangeAllocator", "Type of CIDR allocator to use")
 	fs.BoolVar(&o.ConfigureCloudRoutes, "configure-cloud-routes", true, "Should CIDRs allocated by allocate-node-cidrs be configured on the cloud provider.")