diff --git a/api/server-server/wellknown.yaml b/api/server-server/wellknown.yaml
index 273da7eb3..756766465 100644
--- a/api/server-server/wellknown.yaml
+++ b/api/server-server/wellknown.yaml
@@ -35,9 +35,8 @@ paths:
             The delegated server information. The ``Content-Type`` for this response SHOULD
             be ``application/json``, however servers parsing the response should assume that
             the body is JSON regardless of type. Failures parsing the JSON or invalid data
-            provided in the resulting parsed JSON must result in server discovery failure (no
-            attempts should be made to continue finding an IP address/port number to connect
-            to).
+            provided in the resulting parsed JSON should not result in discovery failure -
+            consult the server discovery process for information on how to continue.
           examples:
             application/json: {
               "m.server": "delegated.example.com:1234"
diff --git a/changelogs/server_server/newsfragments/1855.clarification b/changelogs/server_server/newsfragments/1855.clarification
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e61e14c6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/server_server/newsfragments/1855.clarification
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Clarify that servers should not fail to contact servers if ``/.well-known`` fails.