note that we can only delete chains that are empty
diff --git a/iptables.8.in b/iptables.8.in
index 0288c17..66800a5 100644
--- a/iptables.8.in
+++ b/iptables.8.in
@@ -222,9 +222,10 @@
.TP
.BR "-X, --delete-chain " "[\fIchain\fP]"
Delete the optional user-defined chain specified. There must be no references
-to the chain. If there are, you must delete or replace the referring
-rules before the chain can be deleted. If no argument is given, it
-will attempt to delete every non-builtin chain in the table.
+to the chain. If there are, you must delete or replace the referring rules
+before the chain can be deleted. The chain must be empty, i.e. not contain
+any rules. If no argument is given, it will attempt to delete every
+non-builtin chain in the table.
.TP
.BI "-P, --policy " "chain target"
Set the policy for the chain to the given target. See the section