diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/root.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/root.go
index 0b6aaf63..bcb8cf5a 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/root.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/exec/root.go
@@ -32,11 +32,10 @@ var (
 
 func init() {
 	baseCmd.AddCommand(child.GetCommand())
-	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&binds, "bind", "b", []string{}, `Bind a local path which must exist into the container. Syntax is
-source[:destination[:{ro|cow}]] If destination is not set, 
-it will the same path as source.The additional parameter is 
-ro for read only and cow, which means the file is copied into 
-the container and removed if not modified.`)
+	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&binds, "bind", "b", []string{}, `source[:destination[:{ro|cow}]]
+Bind a local path which must exist into the container. If destination is not
+set, uses the same path as source. "ro" binds read-only. "cow" temporarily
+copies the file into the container.`)
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&SyncUser, "syncuser", false, "Synchronize UIDs/GIDs from host to container")
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&nodeName, "node", "n", "", "Create a read only view of the container for the given node")
 }
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/shell/root.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/shell/root.go
index 52d9825d..df9b2c6e 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/shell/root.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/shell/root.go
@@ -28,11 +28,10 @@ var (
 )
 
 func init() {
-	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&binds, "bind", "b", []string{}, `Bind a local path which must exist into the container. Syntax is
-source[:destination[:{ro|cow}]] If destination is not set, 
-it will the same path as source.The additional parameter is 
-ro for read only and cow, which means the file is copied into 
-the container and removed if not modified.`)
+	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&binds, "bind", "b", []string{}, `source[:destination[:{ro|cow}]]
+Bind a local path which must exist into the container. If destination is not
+set, uses the same path as source. "ro" binds read-only. "cow" temporarily
+copies the file into the container.`)
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&nodeName, "node", "n", "", "Create a read only view of the container for the given node")
 }
 
diff --git a/userdocs/contents/containers.rst b/userdocs/contents/containers.rst
index f30451a2..b46f34eb 100644
--- a/userdocs/contents/containers.rst
+++ b/userdocs/contents/containers.rst
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ when using the exec command. This works as follows:
    distribution (as prescribed by the LSB file hierarchy standard).
 
 Files which should always be present in a container image like ``resolv.conf``
-can be specified in ``warewulf.conf`` with following container_exit
+can be specified in ``warewulf.conf``:
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
    container mounts:
@@ -223,10 +223,9 @@ can be specified in ``warewulf.conf`` with following container_exit
      readonly: true
 
 .. note::
-   Instead of the ``readonly`` setting you can set ``cow``, which 
-   has the effect, that the source file is copied to the container
-   and removed if it was modified. This useful for file used for
-   registrations.
+   Instead of ``readonly: true`` you can set ``cow: true``. This causes the
+   source file to be copied to the container and removed if it was not
+   modified. This can be useful for files used for registrations.
 
 When the command completes, if anything within the container changed,
 the container will be rebuilt into a bootable static object