diff --git a/Doc/reference/import.rst b/Doc/reference/import.rst
index d549b2674e8..2144c1fa356 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/import.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/import.rst
@@ -29,11 +29,10 @@ such as the importing of parent packages, and the updating of various caches
 a name binding operation.
 
 When calling :func:`__import__` as part of an import statement, the
-import system first checks the module global namespace for a function by
-that name. If it is not found, then the standard builtin :func:`__import__`
-is called. Other mechanisms for invoking the import system (such as
-:func:`importlib.import_module`) do not perform this check and will always
-use the standard import system.
+standard builtin :func:`__import__` is called. Other mechanisms for
+invoking the import system (such as :func:`importlib.import_module`) may
+choose to subvert :func:`__import__` and use its own solution to
+implement import semantics.
 
 When a module is first imported, Python searches for the module and if found,
 it creates a module object [#fnmo]_, initializing it.  If the named module
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 6dae17d196b..41917804986 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ Library
 - Issue #25624: ZipFile now always writes a ZIP_STORED header for directory
   entries.  Patch by Dingyuan Wang.
 
+Documentation
+-------------
+
+- Issue #25500: Fix documentation to not claim that __import__ is searched for
+  in the global scope.
+
 Tests
 -----