diff --git a/doc/syntax/literals.rdoc b/doc/syntax/literals.rdoc
index 4d8a9a210d..32f106360a 100644
--- a/doc/syntax/literals.rdoc
+++ b/doc/syntax/literals.rdoc
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ Double-quote strings allow escaped characters such as <tt>\n</tt> for
 newline, <tt>\t</tt> for tab, etc.  The full list of supported escape
 sequences are as follows:
 
-  \0             null, ASCII 00h (NUL)
+  \0             null, ASCII 00h (NUL), only if not followed by an octal digit ([0-7])
   \a             bell, ASCII 07h (BEL)
   \b             backspace, ASCII 08h (BS)
   \t             horizontal tab, ASCII 09h (TAB)