diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/storage.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/storage.sgml
index 8ef2ac8010..ea9640f76d 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/storage.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/storage.sgml
@@ -750,14 +750,14 @@ free space pointers.
ItemIdData
-Array of (offset,length) pairs pointing to the actual items.
-4 bytes per item.
+Array of item identifiers pointing to the actual items. Each
+entry is an (offset,length) pair. 4 bytes per item.
Free space
-The unallocated space. New item pointers are allocated from the start
-of this area, new items from the end.
+The unallocated space. New item identifiers are allocated from
+the start of this area, new items from the end.