diff --git a/modules/reference/pages/public-metrics-reference.adoc b/modules/reference/pages/public-metrics-reference.adoc
index 8a761da2e1..07ffe3330b 100644
--- a/modules/reference/pages/public-metrics-reference.adoc
+++ b/modules/reference/pages/public-metrics-reference.adoc
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ The low watermark for available memory at process start.
 
 === redpanda_memory_free_memory
 
-Available memory in bytes.
+Total amount of unallocated memory for a CPU shard (core), in bytes.
 
 *Type*: gauge