diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 143ab5ca2c41..3e66fbfd6234 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2875,7 +2875,7 @@ sub process {
 #	#defines that are a single string
 #
 # There are 3 different line length message types:
-# LONG_LINE_COMMENT	a comment starts before but extends beyond $max_linelength
+# LONG_LINE_COMMENT	a comment starts before but extends beyond $max_line_length
 # LONG_LINE_STRING	a string starts before but extends beyond $max_line_length
 # LONG_LINE		all other lines longer than $max_line_length
 #