diff --git a/Doc/library/multiprocessing.rst b/Doc/library/multiprocessing.rst
index fc3c1134f97..546876bd925 100644
--- a/Doc/library/multiprocessing.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/multiprocessing.rst
@@ -1118,7 +1118,9 @@ Miscellaneous
    Return a context object which has the same attributes as the
    :mod:`multiprocessing` module.
 
-   If *method* is ``None`` then the default context is returned.
+   If *method* is ``None`` then the default context is returned. Note that if
+   the global start method has not been set, this will set it to the
+   default method.
    Otherwise *method* should be ``'fork'``, ``'spawn'``,
    ``'forkserver'``.  :exc:`ValueError` is raised if the specified
    start method is not available.  See :ref:`multiprocessing-start-methods`.
@@ -1129,10 +1131,10 @@ Miscellaneous
 
    Return the name of start method used for starting processes.
 
-   If the start method has not been fixed and *allow_none* is false,
-   then the start method is fixed to the default and the name is
-   returned.  If the start method has not been fixed and *allow_none*
-   is true then ``None`` is returned.
+   If the global start method has not been set and *allow_none* is
+   ``False``, then the start method is set to the default and the name
+   is returned. If the start method has not been set and *allow_none* is
+   ``True`` then ``None`` is returned.
 
    The return value can be ``'fork'``, ``'spawn'``, ``'forkserver'``
    or ``None``.  See :ref:`multiprocessing-start-methods`.