diff --git a/doc/make.py b/doc/make.py
index 438c4a04a3f08..8b2a77987e663 100755
--- a/doc/make.py
+++ b/doc/make.py
@@ -294,14 +294,16 @@ def main():
                            help='number of jobs used by sphinx-build')
     argparser.add_argument('--no-api',
                            default=False,
-                           help='ommit api and autosummary',
+                           help='omit api and autosummary',
                            action='store_true')
     argparser.add_argument('--single',
                            metavar='FILENAME',
                            type=str,
                            default=None,
-                           help=('filename of section or method name to '
-                                 'compile, e.g. "indexing", "DataFrame.join"'))
+                           help=('filename (relative to the "source" folder)'
+                                 ' of section or method name to compile, e.g. '
+                                 '"development/contributing.rst",'
+                                 ' "ecosystem.rst", "pandas.DataFrame.join"'))
     argparser.add_argument('--python-path',
                            type=str,
                            default=os.path.dirname(DOC_PATH),
diff --git a/doc/source/development/contributing.rst b/doc/source/development/contributing.rst
index 027f2d90bbb73..a87a66cd08ad1 100644
--- a/doc/source/development/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/source/development/contributing.rst
@@ -428,10 +428,10 @@ reducing the turn-around time for checking your changes.
     python make.py clean
     python make.py --no-api
 
-    # compile the docs with only a single
-    # section, that which is in indexing.rst
+    # compile the docs with only a single section, relative to the "source" folder.
+    # For example, compiling only this guide (docs/source/development/contributing.rst)
     python make.py clean
-    python make.py --single indexing
+    python make.py --single development/contributing.rst
 
     # compile the reference docs for a single function
     python make.py clean