diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/start.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/start.sgml
index 863011a9dd..0f8c0267a8 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/start.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/start.sgml
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ createdb: database creation failed: ERROR:  permission denied to create database
     You can also create databases with other names.
     <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allows you to create any
     number of databases at a given site.  Database names must have an
-    alphabetic first character and are limited to 63 characters in
+    alphabetic first character and are limited to 63 bytes in
     length.  A convenient choice is to create a database with the same
     name as your current user name.  Many tools assume that database
     name as the default, so it can save you some typing.  To create