diff --git a/receiver/filelogreceiver/README.md b/receiver/filelogreceiver/README.md
index 2934a816d119..5861b3ccaa2d 100644
--- a/receiver/filelogreceiver/README.md
+++ b/receiver/filelogreceiver/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Tails and parses logs from files.
 | Field                               | Default                              | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
 |-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | `include`                           | required                             | A list of file glob patterns that match the file paths to be read.                                                                                                                                                                                              |
-| `exclude`                           | []                                   | A list of file glob patterns to exclude from reading.                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
+| `exclude`                           | []                                   | A list of file glob patterns to exclude from reading. This is applied against the paths matched by `include`.                                                                                                                                                 |
 | `start_at`                          | `end`                                | At startup, where to start reading logs from the file. Options are `beginning` or `end`.                                                                                                                                                                        |
 | `multiline`                         |                                      | A `multiline` configuration block. See [below](#multiline-configuration) for more details.                                                                                                                                                                      |
 | `force_flush_period`                | `500ms`                              | [Time](#time-parameters) since last read of data from file, after which currently buffered log should be send to pipeline. A value of `0` will disable forced flushing.                                                                                         |