diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py b/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
index 0b265943b78..e27cb37c8de 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ options:
     version_added: "2.1"
   include:
     description:
-      - List of directory and file entries that you would like to extract from the archive. Only
-        files listed here will be extracted.
+      - List of directory and file entries that you would like to extract from the archive. If C(include)
+        is not empty, only files listed here will be extracted.
       - Mutually exclusive with C(exclude).
     type: list
     default: []