diff --git a/doc/03-cli.md b/doc/03-cli.md
index ae1e42a6f..f86246f05 100644
--- a/doc/03-cli.md
+++ b/doc/03-cli.md
@@ -153,7 +153,8 @@ php composer.phar update vendor/*
 * **--no-progress:** Removes the progress display that can mess with some
   terminals or scripts which don't handle backspace characters.
 * **--no-suggest:** Skips suggested packages in the output.
-* **--with-dependencies:** Add also all dependencies of whitelisted packages to the whitelist.
+* **--with-dependencies:** Add also dependencies of whitelisted packages to the whitelist, except those that are root requirements.
+* **--with-all-dependencies:** Add also all dependencies of whitelisted packages to the whitelist, including those that are root requirements.
 * **--optimize-autoloader (-o):** Convert PSR-0/4 autoloading to classmap to get a faster
   autoloader. This is recommended especially for production, but can take
   a bit of time to run so it is currently not done by default.
@@ -199,8 +200,8 @@ php composer.phar require vendor/package:2.* vendor/package2:dev-master
 * **--no-update:** Disables the automatic update of the dependencies.
 * **--no-scripts:** Skips execution of scripts defined in `composer.json`.
 * **--update-no-dev:** Run the dependency update with the `--no-dev` option.
-* **--update-with-dependencies:** Also update dependencies of the newly
-  required packages.
+* **--update-with-dependencies:** Also update dependencies of the newly required packages, except those that are root requirements.
+* **--update-with-all-dependencies:** Also update dependencies of the newly required packages, including those that are root requirements.
 * **--ignore-platform-reqs:** ignore `php`, `hhvm`, `lib-*` and `ext-*`
   requirements and force the installation even if the local machine does not
   fulfill these. See also the [`platform`](06-config.md#platform) config option.
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/RequireCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/RequireCommand.php
index ccb65fb53..5946e4d98 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/RequireCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/RequireCommand.php
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ class RequireCommand extends InitCommand
                 new InputOption('no-update', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Disables the automatic update of the dependencies.'),
                 new InputOption('no-scripts', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Skips the execution of all scripts defined in composer.json file.'),
                 new InputOption('update-no-dev', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Run the dependency update with the --no-dev option.'),
-                new InputOption('update-with-dependencies', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Allows inherited dependencies to be updated if those dependencies are not root requirements'),
-                new InputOption('update-with-all-dependencies', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Allows all inherited dependencies to be updated.'),
+                new InputOption('update-with-dependencies', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Allows inherited dependencies to be updated, except those that are root requirements.'),
+                new InputOption('update-with-all-dependencies', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Allows all inherited dependencies to be updated, including those that are root requirements.'),
                 new InputOption('ignore-platform-reqs', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Ignore platform requirements (php & ext- packages).'),
                 new InputOption('prefer-stable', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Prefer stable versions of dependencies.'),
                 new InputOption('prefer-lowest', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Prefer lowest versions of dependencies.'),