diff --git a/jupyterhub/spawner.py b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
index 2360af04..6dc495e0 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/spawner.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
@@ -55,8 +55,11 @@ class Spawner(LoggingConfigurable):
     will_resume = Bool(False,
         help="""Whether the Spawner will resume on next start
 
-        If a Spawner will resume instead of starting anew (e.g. resuming a Docker container),
-        API tokens in use when the Spawner stops will not be deleted.
+
+        Default is False where each launch of the Spawner will be a new instance.
+        If True, an existing Spawner will resume instead of starting anew
+        (e.g. resuming a Docker container),
+        and API tokens in use when the Spawner stops will not be deleted.
         """
     )
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/user.py b/jupyterhub/user.py
index 3079c12f..78bac2f4 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/user.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/user.py
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
                 # Handle < 0.7 behavior with a warning, assuming info was stored in db by the Spawner.
                 self.log.warning("DEPRECATION: Spawner.start should return (ip, port) in JupyterHub >= 0.7")
             if spawner.api_token != api_token:
-                # Spawner re-used an API token, discard the one we just created
+                # Spawner re-used an API token, discard the unused api_token
                 orm_token = orm.APIToken.find(self.db, api_token)
                 if orm_token is not None:
                     self.db.delete(orm_token)
@@ -321,6 +321,8 @@ class User(HasTraits):
                 self.db.delete(self.server)
             self.server = None
             if not spawner.will_resume:
+                # find and remove the API token if the spawner isn't
+                # going to re-use it next time
                 orm_token = orm.APIToken.find(self.db, api_token)
                 if orm_token:
                     self.db.delete(orm_token)