diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py b/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
index fe3b17a27c45..e969e3d5a3ce 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@
 will have tick of 0-9 with an offset of +2e3. If this is not desired
 turn off the use of the offset on the default formatter::
 
-   ax.get_xaxis().get_major_formatter().set_useOffset(False)
-
-Set :rc:`axes.formatter.useoffset` to turn it off
-globally, or set a different formatter.
+   ax.get_xaxis().get_major_formatter().set_scientific(False)
 
 Tick locating
 -------------