diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qsettings.cpp b/src/corelib/io/qsettings.cpp
index 0c32345961..57b01ec66d 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qsettings.cpp
@@ -2111,8 +2111,10 @@ void QConfFileSettingsPrivate::ensureSectionParsed(QConfFile *confFile,
 
     \snippet settings/settings.cpp 15
 
-    Note that type information is not preserved when reading settings from INI
-    files; all values will be returned as QString.
+    Note that INI files lose the distinction between numeric data and the
+    strings used to encode them, so values written as numbers shall be read back
+    as QString. The numeric value can be recovered using \l QString::toInt(), \l
+    QString::toDouble() and related functions.
 
     The \l{tools/settingseditor}{Settings Editor} example lets you
     experiment with different settings location and with fallbacks
@@ -2395,9 +2397,10 @@ void QConfFileSettingsPrivate::ensureSectionParsed(QConfFile *confFile,
                             On 32-bit Windows or from a 64-bit application on 64-bit Windows,
                             this works the same as specifying NativeFormat.
                             This enum value was added in Qt 5.7.
-    \value IniFormat        Store the settings in INI files. Note that type information
-                            is not preserved when reading settings from INI files;
-                            all values will be returned as QString.
+    \value IniFormat        Store the settings in INI files. Note that INI files
+                            lose the distinction between numeric data and the
+                            strings used to encode them, so values written as
+                            numbers shall be read back as QString.
 
     \value InvalidFormat    Special value returned by registerFormat().
     \omitvalue CustomFormat1