diff --git a/doc/api/process.md b/doc/api/process.md
index 82d854109973c2..2a85a551c9e032 100644
--- a/doc/api/process.md
+++ b/doc/api/process.md
@@ -1697,9 +1697,9 @@ added: v0.1.19
 * `mask` {number}
 
 The `process.umask()` method sets or returns the Node.js process's file mode
-creation mask. Child processes inherit the mask from the parent process. The old
-mask is return if the `mask` argument is given, otherwise returns the current
-mask.
+creation mask. Child processes inherit the mask from the parent process. Invoked
+without an argument, the current mask is returned, otherwise the umask is set to
+the argument value and the previous mask is returned.
 
 ```js
 const newmask = 0o022;