diff --git a/source/includes/apiargs-method-rs.stepDown-param.yaml b/source/includes/apiargs-method-rs.stepDown-param.yaml
index 5f06fb2bd49..a2f4044e0b2 100644
--- a/source/includes/apiargs-method-rs.stepDown-param.yaml
+++ b/source/includes/apiargs-method-rs.stepDown-param.yaml
@@ -1,13 +1,24 @@
 arg_name: param
-description: |
-  The number of seconds to step down the primary, during which time the
-  stepdown member is ineligible from becoming primary. If this
-  parameter is unspecified, the method uses the default value of 60
-  seconds.
+source:
+  file: apiargs-command-replSetStepDown-field.yaml
+  ref: replSetStepDown
 interface: method
-name: seconds
+name: stepDownSecs
 operation: rs.stepDown
-optional: true
 position: 1
 type: number
+---
+arg_name: param
+source:
+  file: apiargs-command-replSetStepDown-field.yaml
+  ref: secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs
+description: |
+  The number of seconds that ``mongod`` will wait for an
+  electable secondary to catch up to the primary.
+  
+  When specified, ``secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs`` 
+  overrides the default wait time of ``10`` seconds.
+interface: method
+operation: rs.stepDown
+position: 2
 ...
diff --git a/source/reference/method/rs.stepDown.txt b/source/reference/method/rs.stepDown.txt
index b9702c5990d..1dec43a8660 100644
--- a/source/reference/method/rs.stepDown.txt
+++ b/source/reference/method/rs.stepDown.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ rs.stepDown()
 Description
 -----------
 
-.. method:: rs.stepDown(seconds)
+.. method:: rs.stepDown(stepDownSecs, secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs)
 
    Forces the :term:`primary` of the replica set to become a
    :term:`secondary`, triggering an :ref:`election for primary
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Description
    The method is only valid against the primary and will error if run
    on a non-primary member.
    
-   The :method:`rs.stepDown()` method has the following parameter:
+   The :method:`rs.stepDown()` method has the following parameters:
 
    .. include:: /includes/apiargs/method-rs.stepDown-param.rst
 
@@ -40,18 +40,23 @@ terminate long running user operations that would block the primary
 from stepping down, such as an index build, a write operation or a
 map-reduce job.
 
-To avoid rollbacks, :method:`rs.stepDown()` only steps down the primary
-if an electable secondary is completely caught up with the primary. The
-method will wait up to the ``10`` seconds for a secondary to catch up.
+To avoid rollbacks, :method:`rs.stepDown()`, by default, only
+steps down the primary if an electable secondary is completely caught up
+with the primary. The command will wait up to either 10 seconds or the
+``secondaryCatchUpPeriodSecs`` for a secondary to catch up.
 
 If no electable secondary meets this criterion by the waiting period,
 the primary does not step down and the method throws an exception.
 
-If the :method:`rs.stepDown()` completes successfully, the method
-forces all clients currently connected to the database to disconnect.
-This helps ensure that the clients maintain an accurate view of the
-replica set. The :program:`mongo` shell will display an error related
-to the disconnect.
+Upon successful stepdown, :method:`rs.stepDown()` forces all
+clients currently connected to the database to disconnect. This helps
+ensure that the clients maintain an accurate view of the replica set.
+
+Because the disconnect includes the connection used to run the command,
+you cannot retrieve the return status of the command if the command
+completes successfully; i.e. you can only retrieve the return status of
+the command if it errors. When running the command in a script, the
+script should account for this behavior.
 
 .. note::