diff --git a/Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst b/Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
index 09f988e7fa71..85800ce95ae5 100644
--- a/Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
+++ b/Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
@@ -213,11 +213,7 @@ point rather than some random spot.  If your upstream-bound branch has
 emptied entirely into the mainline during the merge window, you can pull it
 forward with a command like::
 
-  git merge v5.2-rc1^0
-
-The "^0" will cause Git to do a fast-forward merge (which should be
-possible in this situation), thus avoiding the addition of a spurious merge
-commit.
+  git merge --ff-only v5.2-rc1
 
 The guidelines laid out above are just that: guidelines.  There will always
 be situations that call out for a different solution, and these guidelines