diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 93362ac7..1ade665a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - [[#481]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/pull/481) - Fix [MIRTOP_STATS IndexError](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/issues/477) - Fix mirtop process execution when mirgenedb is used.
 - [[#482]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/pull/482) - Update documentation regarding MirgeneDB input files.
 - [[#486]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/pull/486) - Replace `CSVTK_JOIN` to improve processing in large amount of files.
+- [[#494]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/pull/494) - Update [help text](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/issues/491) for `--fasta` parameter
 - [[#493]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/pull/493) - Fix [[#488]](https://github.com/nf-core/smrnaseq/issues/488) - Fix runtime error that can occur when params.genome is set.
 
 ## v2.4.0 - 2024-10-14 - Navy Iron Boxer
diff --git a/nextflow_schema.json b/nextflow_schema.json
index 02984622..7ae422c4 100644
--- a/nextflow_schema.json
+++ b/nextflow_schema.json
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
                     "mimetype": "text/plain",
                     "pattern": "^\\S+\\.fn?a(sta)?(\\.gz)?$",
                     "description": "Path to FASTA genome file.",
-                    "help_text": "This parameter is *mandatory* if `--genome` is not specified. If you don't have a BWA index available this will be generated for you automatically. Combine with `--save_reference` to save BWA index for future runs.",
+                    "help_text": "FASTA file used for genome quantification and identification of novel miRNAs.  If you don't have a Bowtie1 index available, this will be generated for you automatically. Combine with `--save_reference` to save Bowtie1 index for future runs.",
                     "fa_icon": "far fa-file-code"
                 },
                 "mirna_gtf": {