diff --git a/bitbake/bin/bitbake b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
index 0b4f55631d..ed2ff06309 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/bitbake
+++ b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ Default BBFILES are the .bb files in the current directory.""")
     parser.add_option("-p", "--parse-only", help = "quit after parsing the BB files (developers only)",
                action = "store_true", dest = "parse_only", default = False)
 
-    parser.add_option("-s", "--show-versions", help = "show current and preferred versions of all packages",
+    parser.add_option("-s", "--show-versions", help = "show current and preferred versions of all recipes",
                action = "store_true", dest = "show_versions", default = False)
 
     parser.add_option("-e", "--environment", help = "show the global or per-package environment (this is what used to be bbread)",