diff --git a/pandas/core/frame.py b/pandas/core/frame.py
index ead4ea744c647..39bbfc75b0376 100644
--- a/pandas/core/frame.py
+++ b/pandas/core/frame.py
@@ -8564,7 +8564,9 @@ def pivot(self, index=None, columns=None, values=None) -> DataFrame:
         margins : bool, default False
             Add all row / columns (e.g. for subtotal / grand totals).
         dropna : bool, default True
-            Do not include columns whose entries are all NaN.
+            Do not include columns whose entries are all NaN. If True,
+            rows with a NaN value in any column will be omitted before
+            computing margins.
         margins_name : str, default 'All'
             Name of the row / column that will contain the totals
             when margins is True.