diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dce747a5..3dd19af0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -159,13 +159,16 @@ Stripe.ca_bundle_path = "path/to/ca/bundle"
 
 ### Configuring Automatic Retries
 
-The library can be configured to automatically retry requests that fail due to
-an intermittent network problem:
+You can enable automatic retries on requests that fail due to a transient
+problem by configuring the maximum number of retries:
 
 ```ruby
 Stripe.max_network_retries = 2
 ```
 
+Various errors can trigger a retry, like a connection error or a timeout, and
+also certain API responses like HTTP status `409 Conflict`.
+
 [Idempotency keys][idempotency-keys] are added to requests to guarantee that
 retries are safe.