diff --git a/internal/usage.go b/internal/usage.go
index 99db5aebb1754..a49021b43d709 100644
--- a/internal/usage.go
+++ b/internal/usage.go
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ The commands & flags are:
   --processor-filter <filter>    filter the processors to enable, separator is :
   --quiet                        run in quiet mode
   --sample-config                print out full sample configuration
-  --test                         gather metrics, print them out, and exit
+  --test                         gather metrics, print them out, and exit;
+                                 processors, aggregators, and outputs are not run
   --usage <plugin>               print usage for a plugin, ie, 'telegraf --usage mysql'
   --version                      display the version and exit
 
diff --git a/internal/usage_windows.go b/internal/usage_windows.go
index 585c2996f8dce..db5e492a90d21 100644
--- a/internal/usage_windows.go
+++ b/internal/usage_windows.go
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ The commands & flags are:
   --processor-filter <filter>    filter the processors to enable, separator is :
   --quiet                        run in quiet mode
   --sample-config                print out full sample configuration
-  --test                         gather metrics, print them out, and exit
+  --test                         gather metrics, print them out, and exit;
+                                 processors, aggregators, and outputs are not run
   --usage <plugin>               print usage for a plugin, ie, 'telegraf --usage mysql'
   --version                      display the version and exit