diff --git a/src/filesystem/README.md b/src/filesystem/README.md
index c099da1e8c..664254b097 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/README.md
+++ b/src/filesystem/README.md
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ The server's directory access control follows this flow:
   - Fails if destination exists
 
 - **search_files**
-  - Recursively search for files/directories that match or do not match patterns
+  - Recursively search for files/directories by name or path, not file contents
   - Inputs:
     - `path` (string): Starting directory
     - `pattern` (string): Search pattern
diff --git a/src/filesystem/__tests__/structured-content.test.ts b/src/filesystem/__tests__/structured-content.test.ts
index 4b8f92b0a3..87d125052b 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/__tests__/structured-content.test.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/__tests__/structured-content.test.ts
@@ -139,6 +139,14 @@ describe('structuredContent schema compliance', () => {
   });
 
   describe('search_files (control - already working)', () => {
+    it('should describe name/path matching rather than content search', async () => {
+      const result = await client.listTools();
+      const searchFiles = result.tools.find((tool) => tool.name === 'search_files');
+
+      expect(searchFiles?.description).toContain('by name or path');
+      expect(searchFiles?.description).toContain('not file contents');
+    });
+
     it('should return structuredContent.content as a string', async () => {
       const result = await client.callTool({
         name: 'search_files',
diff --git a/src/filesystem/index.ts b/src/filesystem/index.ts
index 7b67e63e58..00dd02bc11 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/index.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/index.ts
@@ -628,8 +628,8 @@ server.registerTool(
   {
     title: "Search Files",
     description:
-      "Recursively search for files and directories matching a pattern. " +
-      "The patterns should be glob-style patterns that match paths relative to the working directory. " +
+      "Recursively search for files and directories by name or path, not file contents. " +
+      "The patterns should be glob-style patterns that match paths relative to the search directory. " +
       "Use pattern like '*.ext' to match files in current directory, and '**/*.ext' to match files in all subdirectories. " +
       "Returns full paths to all matching items. Great for finding files when you don't know their exact location. " +
       "Only searches within allowed directories.",