diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 43fa53d..db78bef 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -238,13 +238,19 @@ Examples:
 ```
 
 Universal time
------------------
-Lager reads the `sasl` application's configuration, if `utc_log` is set to `true`, the times will be displayed in UTC format.
+--------------
+By default, lager formats timestamps as local time for whatever computer
+generated the log message.
+
+To make lager use UTC timestamps, you can set the `sasl` application's
+`utc_log` configuration parameter to `true` in your application configuration
+file.
 
 Example:
 
 ```
-application:set_env(sasl, utc_log, true).
+%% format log timestamps as UTC
+[{sasl, [{utc_log, true}]}].
 ```
 
 Error logger integration