diff --git a/docs/howto/custom-management-commands.txt b/docs/howto/custom-management-commands.txt
index c43af9672d..da88df7f1b 100644
--- a/docs/howto/custom-management-commands.txt
+++ b/docs/howto/custom-management-commands.txt
@@ -369,8 +369,9 @@ the :meth:`~BaseCommand.handle` method must be implemented.
     potential problems. Serious problems are raised as a :class:`CommandError`;
     warnings are output to stderr; minor notifications are output to stdout.
 
-    If ``apps`` and ``tags`` are both None, all system checks are performed.
-    ``tags`` can be a list of check tags, like ``compatibility`` or ``models``.
+    If ``app_configs`` and ``tags`` are both ``None``, all system checks are
+    performed. ``tags`` can be a list of check tags, like ``compatibility`` or
+    ``models``.
 
 .. method:: BaseCommand.validate(app=None, display_num_errors=False)