diff --git a/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/zpix-SURVEY-PROGRAM.rst b/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/zpix-SURVEY-PROGRAM.rst
index 98726ea5..486ff0d7 100644
--- a/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/zpix-SURVEY-PROGRAM.rst
+++ b/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/zpix-SURVEY-PROGRAM.rst
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ SV_NSPEC [1]_              int32                    Number of coadded spectra fo
 SV_PRIMARY [1]_            logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in SV (SV1+2+3)
 MAIN_NSPEC [1]_            int32                    Number of coadded spectra for this TARGETID in Main survey
 MAIN_PRIMARY [1]_          logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in Main survey
-ZCAT_NSPEC                 int16                    Number of coadded spectra for this TARGETID in this zcatalog
+ZCAT_NSPEC                 int16                    Number of times this TARGETID appears in this catalog
 ZCAT_PRIMARY               logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in this zcatalog
 ========================== =========== ============ =====================================================================================================================================
 
diff --git a/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/ztile-SURVEY-PROGRAM-GROUPTYPE.rst b/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/ztile-SURVEY-PROGRAM-GROUPTYPE.rst
index b209b102..53b55949 100644
--- a/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/ztile-SURVEY-PROGRAM-GROUPTYPE.rst
+++ b/doc/DESI_SPECTRO_REDUX/SPECPROD/zcatalog/ztile-SURVEY-PROGRAM-GROUPTYPE.rst
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ SV_NSPEC [1]_              int32                    Number of coadded spectra fo
 SV_PRIMARY [1]_            logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in SV (SV1+2+3)
 MAIN_NSPEC [1]_            int32                    Number of coadded spectra for this TARGETID in Main survey
 MAIN_PRIMARY [1]_          logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in Main survey
-ZCAT_NSPEC                 int16                    Number of coadded spectra for this TARGETID in this zcatalog
+ZCAT_NSPEC                 int16                    Number of times this TARGETID appears in this catalog
 ZCAT_PRIMARY               logical                  Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in this zcatalog
 ========================== =========== ============ =====================================================================================================================================
 
diff --git a/doc/changes.rst b/doc/changes.rst
index 94da7ab0..f2a6b1be 100644
--- a/doc/changes.rst
+++ b/doc/changes.rst
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@ desidatamodel Change Log
 23.6 (unreleased)
 -----------------
 
+* Update definition of ``ZCAT_NSPEC`` (PR `#187`_).
 * Add note about equivalent width values in ``fuji`` and ``guadalupe`` (PR `#181`_).
 * Add note about units in FITS files (PR `#178`_).
 
 .. _`#178`: https://github.com/desihub/desidatamodel/pull/178
 .. _`#181`: https://github.com/desihub/desidatamodel/pull/181
+.. _`#187`: https://github.com/desihub/desidatamodel/pull/187
 
 23.1 (2023-06-12)
 -----------------
diff --git a/py/desidatamodel/data/column_descriptions.csv b/py/desidatamodel/data/column_descriptions.csv
index f85eaf29..612c28e0 100644
--- a/py/desidatamodel/data/column_descriptions.csv
+++ b/py/desidatamodel/data/column_descriptions.csv
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ WEIGHT_ZFAIL,float64,,Should be all 1 at this point for main survey
 WISEMASK_W1,byte,,Bitwise mask for WISE W1 data
 WISEMASK_W2,byte,,Bitwise mask for WISE W2 data
 Z,float64,,Redshift measured by Redrock
-ZCAT_NSPEC,int32,,Number of coadded spectra for this TARGETID in this zcatalog
+ZCAT_NSPEC,int32,,Number of times this TARGETID appears in this catalog
 ZCAT_PRIMARY,bool,,Boolean flag (True/False) for the primary coadded spectrum in this zcatalog
 ZERR,float64,,Redshift error from redrock
 ZPOSSLOC,bool,,True/False whether the location could have been assigned to the given target class
diff --git a/py/desidatamodel/test/test_check.py b/py/desidatamodel/test/test_check.py
index 403e4e88..8a8db0f7 100644
--- a/py/desidatamodel/test/test_check.py
+++ b/py/desidatamodel/test/test_check.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def test_files_to_regexp_with_bad_filetype(self):
         root = os.path.join(os.environ[DM], 'doc', 'DESI_SPECTRO_DATA')
         files = scan_model(root)
         foo = files[0].get_regexp(root)
-        self.assertLog(log, -1, "Unusual file type, fits, detected for {0}!".format(files[0].filename))
+        self.assertLog(log, -1, "Unusual file type, json, detected for {0}!".format(files[0].filename))
 
     def test_get_regexp_filesize(self):
         """Test extraction of file size from data model documents.