diff --git a/apis/v1/gatewayclass_types.go b/apis/v1/gatewayclass_types.go
index 31bce40255..ae0341f23b 100644
--- a/apis/v1/gatewayclass_types.go
+++ b/apis/v1/gatewayclass_types.go
@@ -93,8 +93,10 @@ type GatewayClassSpec struct {
 	// or an implementation-specific custom resource. The resource can be
 	// cluster-scoped or namespace-scoped.
 	//
-	// If the referent cannot be found, the GatewayClass's "InvalidParameters"
-	// status condition will be true.
+	// If the referent cannot be found, refers to an unsupported kind, or when
+	// the data within that resource is malformed, the GatewayClass will be
+	// rejected with the "Accepted" status condition set to "False" and an
+	// "InvalidParameters" reason.
 	//
 	// A Gateway for this GatewayClass may provide its own `parametersRef`. When both are specified,
 	// the merging behavior is implementation specific.