diff --git a/src/library/graphics/man/axis.Rd b/src/library/graphics/man/axis.Rd
index 1c3661b809..3308b144da 100644
--- a/src/library/graphics/man/axis.Rd
+++ b/src/library/graphics/man/axis.Rd
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ axis(side, at = NULL, labels = TRUE, tick = TRUE, line = NA,
   \item{outer}{a logical value indicating whether the axis should be
     drawn in the outer plot margin, rather than the standard plot
     margin.}
-  \item{font}{font for text.  Defaults to \code{par("font")}.}
+  \item{font}{font for text.  Defaults to \code{par("font.axis")}.}
   \item{lty}{line type for both the axis line and the tick marks.}
   \item{lwd, lwd.ticks}{line widths for the axis line and the tick
     marks.  Zero or negative values will suppress the line or ticks.}