diff --git a/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/cli_reference.md b/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/cli_reference.md
index a499b49cf8..535a5fa945 100644
--- a/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/cli_reference.md
+++ b/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/cli_reference.md
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ The tool comes with a rather extensive help text, simply running with `--help`!
                description="Path to a file to which report output is written. The file is created if it does not exist. If this option is not specified, the report is rendered to standard output."
     %}
     {% include custom/cli_option_row.html options="--show-suppressed"
-               description="Causes the suppressed rule violations to be added to the report."
+               description="Causes the suppressed rule violations to be added to the report if supported by the report format. See [PMD Report formats](pmd_userdocs_report_formats.html) for details."
     %}
     {% include custom/cli_option_row.html options="--suppress-marker"
                option_arg="marker"
diff --git a/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/pmd_report_formats.md b/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/pmd_report_formats.md
index c0e4760e54..0b32afb05e 100644
--- a/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/pmd_report_formats.md
+++ b/docs/pages/pmd/userdocs/pmd_report_formats.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ The header of the sections below are used to select the format on the command li
 arguments to the `--format` option. When a format accepts *properties*,
 those can be specified with the `--property` / `-P` option on the command-line.
 
-{% include note.html content="Suppressed violations are only reported, if the CLI parameter `--show-suppressed` is set." %}
+{% include note.html content="Suppressed violations are only reported, if the CLI parameter `--show-suppressed` is set and if the format supports showing suppressed violations. Currently only html, summaryhtml and xml show suppressed violations." %}
 
 ## sarif
 
diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes.md b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
index 5cde4e3dcd..26ec1d0f89 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ What changes?
   * [#5059](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/5059): \[core] xml output doesn't escape CDATA inside its own CDATA
   * [#5201](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/5201): \[core] PMD sarif schema file points to nonexistent location
   * [#5222](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/5222): \[core] RuleReference/RuleSetWriter don't handle changed default property values correctly
+  * [#5229](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/5229): \[doc] CLI flag `--show-suppressed` needs to mention xml, html, summaryhtml
 * java
   * [#5190](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/5190): \[java] NPE in type inference
 * java-codestyle
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ What changes?
 * [#5202](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/5202): \[core] Sarif format: refer to schemastore.org - [David Schach](https://github.com/dschach) (@dschach)
 * [#5208](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/5208): \[doc] Added Codety to "Tools / Integrations" - [Tony](https://github.com/random1223) (@random1223)
 * [#5224](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/5224): \[java] Fix #5068: Class incorrectly identified as non-instantiatable - [Lukas Gräf](https://github.com/lukasgraef) (@lukasgraef)
+* [#5230](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/5230): \[doc] Documentation update for --show-suppressed flag - [David Schach](https://github.com/dschach) (@dschach)
 
 {% endtocmaker %}
 
diff --git a/pmd-cli/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/cli/commands/internal/PmdCommand.java b/pmd-cli/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/cli/commands/internal/PmdCommand.java
index f60632ba63..de3fe49ec3 100644
--- a/pmd-cli/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/cli/commands/internal/PmdCommand.java
+++ b/pmd-cli/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/cli/commands/internal/PmdCommand.java
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ public class PmdCommand extends AbstractAnalysisPmdSubcommand<PMDConfiguration>
         this.benchmark = benchmark;
     }
 
-    @Option(names = "--show-suppressed", description = "Report should show suppressed rule violations.")
+    @Option(names = "--show-suppressed", description = "Report should show suppressed rule violations if supported by the report format.")
     public void setShowSuppressed(final boolean showSuppressed) {
         this.showSuppressed = showSuppressed;
     }