diff --git a/events/itemfinished.rst b/events/itemfinished.rst
index dd9249c2a..bf058654e 100644
--- a/events/itemfinished.rst
+++ b/events/itemfinished.rst
@@ -36,4 +36,4 @@ An unsuccessful operation:
         }
     }
 
-The ``action`` field is either ``update`` or ``delete``.
+The ``action`` field is either ``update`` (contents changed), ``metadata`` (file metadata changed but not contents), or ``delete``.
diff --git a/events/itemstarted.rst b/events/itemstarted.rst
index 173eb7ca6..b6b829c7a 100644
--- a/events/itemstarted.rst
+++ b/events/itemstarted.rst
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@ Generated when Syncthing begins synchronizing a file to a newer version.
         }
     }
 
-The ``action`` field is either ``update`` or ``delete``.
+The ``action`` field is either ``update`` (contents changed), ``metadata`` (file metadata changed but not contents), or ``delete``.