diff --git a/doc/spec/dir-spec.txt b/doc/spec/dir-spec.txt
index 6d3a4726b1..e6ca2cc1e1 100644
--- a/doc/spec/dir-spec.txt
+++ b/doc/spec/dir-spec.txt
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ $Id$
 
    VA ... FU: Caches download the consensus.  (Note that since caches have
         no way of telling what VA and FU are until they have downloaded
-        the consensus, they assume that the present descriptor's VA is
+        the consensus, they assume that the present consensus's VA is
         equal to the previous one's FU, and that its FU is one interval after
         that.)