diff --git a/jupyterhub/app.py b/jupyterhub/app.py
index 32a1b628..cb9a2870 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/app.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/app.py
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ class JupyterHub(Application):
     ).tag(config=True)
 
     statsd_host = Unicode(
-        help="Host to send statsd metrics to"
+        help="Host to send statsd metrics to. An empty string (the default) disables sending metrics."
     ).tag(config=True)
 
     statsd_port = Integer(