diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 40300ddba..891711e56 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ config_options = [
         'optimize',
         """Enable extra compiler optimizations specified by the
            "optimize_flags" variable, instead of the flags specified by the
-           "debug_flags" variable.""",
+           "no_optimize_flags" variable.""",
         True),
     ('optimize_flags',
      'Additional compiler flags passed to the C/C++ compiler when optimize=yes.',
diff --git a/doc/sphinx/scons-options.txt b/doc/sphinx/scons-options.txt
index c20759cad..a0baa9f72 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx/scons-options.txt
+++ b/doc/sphinx/scons-options.txt
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ running 'scons build'. The format of this file is:
 * optimize: [ yes | no ]
     Enable extra compiler optimizations specified by the
     "optimize_flags" variable, instead of the flags specified by the
-    "debug_flags" variable.
+    "no_optimize_flags" variable.
     - default: 'yes'
 
 * optimize_flags: [ string ]