diff --git a/news/12122.doc.rst b/news/12122.doc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..49a3308a25c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/12122.doc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Clarify --prefer-binary in CLI and docs
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
index 64bc59bbd66..84b40a8fc52 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
@@ -670,7 +670,10 @@ def prefer_binary() -> Option:
         dest="prefer_binary",
         action="store_true",
         default=False,
-        help="Prefer older binary packages over newer source packages.",
+        help=(
+            "Prefer binary packages over source packages, even if the "
+            "source packages are newer."
+        ),
     )