diff --git a/libselinux/man/man3/matchpathcon.3 b/libselinux/man/man3/matchpathcon.3
index 1bc7ba10..177f15d7 100644
--- a/libselinux/man/man3/matchpathcon.3
+++ b/libselinux/man/man3/matchpathcon.3
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ matchpathcon, matchpathcon_index \- get the default SELinux security context for
 .sp
 .BI "int matchpathcon_init(const char *" path ");"
 .sp
-.BI "int matchpathcon_init_prefix(const char *" path ", const char *" subset ");"
+.BI "int matchpathcon_init_prefix(const char *" path ", const char *" prefix ");"
 .sp
 .BI "int matchpathcon_fini(void);"
 .sp
@@ -16,6 +16,24 @@ matchpathcon, matchpathcon_index \- get the default SELinux security context for
 .BI "int matchpathcon_index(const char *" name ", mode_t " mode ", char **" con ");"
 .
 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
+
+This family of functions is deprecated.  For new code, please use
+.BR selabel_open (3)
+with the
+.B SELABEL_CTX_FILE
+backend in place of
+.BR matchpathcon_init (),
+use
+.BR selabel_close (3)
+in place of
+.BR matchpathcon_fini (),
+and use
+.BR selabel_lookup (3)
+in place of
+.BR matchpathcon ().
+
+The remaining description below is for the legacy interface.
+
 .BR matchpathcon_init ()
 loads the file contexts configuration specified by
 .I path
@@ -41,9 +59,16 @@ customizations.
 .BR matchpathcon_init_prefix ()
 is the same as
 .BR matchpathcon_init ()
-but only loads entries with regular expressions that have stems prefixed
-by
-.I \%prefix.
+but only loads entries with regular expressions whose first pathname
+component is a prefix of
+.I \%prefix
+, e.g. pass "/dev" if you only intend to call
+.BR matchpathcon ()
+with pathnames beginning with /dev.
+However, this optimization is no longer necessary due to the use of
+.I file_contexts.bin
+files with precompiled regular expressions, so use of this interface
+is deprecated.
 
 .BR matchpathcon_fini ()
 frees the memory allocated by a prior call to
@@ -54,7 +79,17 @@ calls, or to free memory when finished using
 .BR matchpathcon ().
 
 .BR matchpathcon ()
-matches the specified pathname and mode against the file contexts
+matches the specified
+.I pathname,
+after transformation via
+.BR realpath (3)
+excepting any final symbolic link component if S_IFLNK was
+specified as the
+.I mode,
+and
+.I mode
+against the
+.I file contexts
 configuration and sets the security context 
 .I con 
 to refer to the
diff --git a/libselinux/man/man5/selabel_file.5 b/libselinux/man/man5/selabel_file.5
index 79eca955..e7388242 100644
--- a/libselinux/man/man5/selabel_file.5
+++ b/libselinux/man/man5/selabel_file.5
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ A non-null value for this option specifies a path to a file that will be opened
 A non-null value for this option indicates that any local customizations to the file contexts mapping should be ignored.
 .TP
 .B SELABEL_OPT_SUBSET
-A non-null value for this option is interpreted as a path prefix, for example "/etc".  Only file context specifications starting with the given prefix are loaded.  This may increase lookup performance, however any attempt to look up a path not starting with the given prefix will fail.
+A non-null value for this option is interpreted as a path prefix, for example "/etc".  Only file context specifications with starting with a first component that prefix matches the given prefix are loaded.  This may increase lookup performance, however any attempt to look up a path not starting with the given prefix may fail.  This optimization is no longer required due to the use of
+.I file_contexts.bin
+files and is deprecated.
 .RE
 .
 .SH "FILES"
@@ -206,7 +208,7 @@ component with \fI/var/www\fR, therefore the path used is:
 If contexts are to be validated, then the global option \fBSELABEL_OPT_VALIDATE\fR must be set before calling \fBselabel_open\fR(3). If this is not set, then it is possible for an invalid context to be returned.
 .IP "2." 4
 If the size of file contexts series of files contain many entries, then \fBselabel_open\fR(3) may have a delay as it reads in the files, and if
-requested validates the entries. If possible use the \fBSELABEL_OPT_SUBSET\fR option to reduce the number of entries processed.
+requested validates the entries.
 .IP "3." 4
 Depending on the version of SELinux it is possible that a \fIfile_contexts.template\fR file may also be present, however this is now deprecated.
 .br