diff --git a/README b/README
index d36068dfa..792e22d2e 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ for example,
 
     markdown2pdf sample.txt endnotes.txt
 
-will produce `sample.pdf`.  (If `sample.pdf` exists already,
-it will be backed up before being overwritten.)  An output file
+will produce `sample.pdf`.  An output file
 name can be specified explicitly using the `-o` option:
 
     markdown2pdf -o book.pdf chap1 chap2
diff --git a/src/markdown2pdf.hs b/src/markdown2pdf.hs
index 1a2ee8ccb..811d5febd 100644
--- a/src/markdown2pdf.hs
+++ b/src/markdown2pdf.hs
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ main = withTempDir "pandoc"
         case latexRes of
           Left err      -> exit err
           Right pdfFile -> do
-            -- save the output creating a backup if necessary
+            -- save the output
             saveOutput pdfFile $
               replaceDirectory pdfFile (takeDirectory output)