diff --git a/Doc/library/profiling.sampling.rst b/Doc/library/profiling.sampling.rst
index 9bc58b4d1bc976..4ec594c041d3f5 100644
--- a/Doc/library/profiling.sampling.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/profiling.sampling.rst
@@ -878,9 +878,9 @@ interesting functions that highlights:
 
 Use :option:`--no-summary` to suppress both the legend and summary sections.
 
-To save pstats output to a file instead of stdout::
+To save pstats output to a binary file instead of stdout::
 
-   python -m profiling.sampling run -o profile.txt script.py
+   python -m profiling.sampling run -o profile.pstats script.py
 
 The pstats format supports several options for controlling the display.
 The :option:`--sort` option determines the column used for ordering results::
@@ -1455,7 +1455,9 @@ Output options
 
 .. option:: --pstats
 
-   Generate text statistics output. This is the default.
+   Generate pstats statistics. This is the default.
+   When written to stdout, the output is a text table; with :option:`-o`,
+   it is a binary pstats file.
 
 .. option:: --collapsed
 
@@ -1486,8 +1488,9 @@ Output options
 .. option:: -o <path>, --output <path>
 
    Output file or directory path. Default behavior varies by format:
-   :option:`--pstats` writes to stdout, while other formats generate a file
-   named ``<format>_<PID>.<ext>`` (for example, ``flamegraph_12345.html``).
+   :option:`--pstats` prints a text table to stdout, while ``-o`` writes a
+   binary pstats file. Other formats generate a file named
+   ``<format>_<PID>.<ext>`` (for example, ``flamegraph_12345.html``).
    :option:`--heatmap` creates a directory named ``heatmap_<PID>``.
 
 .. option:: --browser
diff --git a/Lib/profiling/sampling/cli.py b/Lib/profiling/sampling/cli.py
index c0dcda46fc29d3..f4b31aad45b922 100644
--- a/Lib/profiling/sampling/cli.py
+++ b/Lib/profiling/sampling/cli.py
@@ -489,8 +489,8 @@ def _add_format_options(parser, include_compression=True, include_binary=True):
         "-o",
         "--output",
         dest="outfile",
-        help="Output path (default: stdout for pstats, auto-generated for others). "
-        "For heatmap: directory name (default: heatmap_PID)",
+        help="Output path (default: stdout for pstats text; with -o, pstats is binary). "
+        "Auto-generated for other formats. For heatmap: directory name (default: heatmap_PID)",
     )
     output_group.add_argument(
         "--browser",