diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ce8e916111..5f382b980c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ### :books: (Refine Doc)
 
+* docs(api): fix counter negative value wording [#3396](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/3396) @legendecas
+
 ### :house: (Internal)
 
 * ci: run browser tests without circle [#3328](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/3328) @dyladan
diff --git a/api/src/metrics/Metric.ts b/api/src/metrics/Metric.ts
index b20cfa4662..d0b6909bd7 100644
--- a/api/src/metrics/Metric.ts
+++ b/api/src/metrics/Metric.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export enum ValueType {
  */
 export interface Counter<AttributesTypes extends MetricAttributes = MetricAttributes> {
   /**
-   * Increment value of counter by the input. Inputs may not be negative.
+   * Increment value of counter by the input. Inputs must not be negative.
    */
   add(value: number, attributes?: AttributesTypes, context?: Context): void;
 }