diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 787513f1e..b40c18c35 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ Unreleased
   is false. To keep checksums set it to true.  All this work is thanks to `Zack
   Weinberg <pull 1849_>`_.
 
+- Fixed the docs for multi-line regex exclusions, closing `issue 1863`_.
+
 - Fixed a potential crash in the C tracer, closing `issue 1835`_, thanks to
   `Jan Kühle <pull 1843_>`_.
 
diff --git a/doc/config.rst b/doc/config.rst
index 957069fa1..c80de9e2c 100644
--- a/doc/config.rst
+++ b/doc/config.rst
@@ -593,6 +593,8 @@ Settings common to many kinds of reporting.
 from reporting.  This setting is preferred, because it will preserve the
 default exclude pattern ``pragma: no cover`` instead of overwriting it.
 
+See :ref:`config_report_exclude_lines` for further details.
+
 .. versionadded:: 7.2.0
 
 
@@ -617,6 +619,10 @@ only have to match a portion of the line. For example, if you write ``...``,
 you'll exclude any line with three or more of any character. If you write
 ``pass``, you'll also exclude the line ``my_pass="foo"``, and so on.
 
+All of the regexes here and in :ref:`config_report_exclude_also` are combined
+into one regex for processing, so you cannot use global flags like ``(?s)`` in
+your regexes.  Use the scoped flag form instead: ``(?s:...)``
+
 
 .. _config_report_fail_under:
 
diff --git a/doc/excluding.rst b/doc/excluding.rst
index 7831f7d9f..a3481fb5f 100644
--- a/doc/excluding.rst
+++ b/doc/excluding.rst
@@ -248,8 +248,9 @@ region will be excluded.  If part of the region introduces a block, the entire
 block is excluded even if part of it is outside the matched region.
 
 When writing regexes to match multiple lines, remember that ``"."`` won't match
-a newline character, but ``"\n"`` or ``"(?s:.)"`` will.  Using the ``"(?s)"``
-flag in your regex will also make dot match a newline.
+a newline character, but ``"\n"`` or ``"(?s:.)"`` will.  The regexes in these
+settings are combined, so you cannot use global flags like ``(?s)`` in
+your regexes.  Use the scoped flag form instead: ``(?s:...)``
 
 Here are some examples:
 
@@ -263,7 +264,7 @@ Here are some examples:
                 ; 2. Comments to turn coverage on and off:
                 no cover: start(?s:.)*?no cover: stop
                 ; 3. A pragma comment that excludes an entire file:
-                (?s)\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\Z
+                \A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\Z
             """,
         toml=r"""
             [tool.coverage.report]
@@ -273,7 +274,7 @@ Here are some examples:
                 # 2. Comments to turn coverage on and off:
                 "no cover: start(?s:.)*?no cover: stop",
                 # 3. A pragma comment that excludes an entire file:
-                "(?s)\\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\\Z",
+                "\\A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\\Z",
                 ]
             """,
         )
@@ -291,7 +292,7 @@ Here are some examples:
             ; 2. Comments to turn coverage on and off:
             no cover: start(?s:.)*?no cover: stop
             ; 3. A pragma comment that excludes an entire file:
-            (?s)\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\Z
+            \A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\Z
 
     .. code-tab:: toml
         :caption: pyproject.toml
@@ -303,7 +304,7 @@ Here are some examples:
             # 2. Comments to turn coverage on and off:
             "no cover: start(?s:.)*?no cover: stop",
             # 3. A pragma comment that excludes an entire file:
-            "(?s)\\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\\Z",
+            "\\A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\\Z",
             ]
 
     .. code-tab:: ini
@@ -316,9 +317,9 @@ Here are some examples:
             ; 2. Comments to turn coverage on and off:
             no cover: start(?s:.)*?no cover: stop
             ; 3. A pragma comment that excludes an entire file:
-            (?s)\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\Z
+            \A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\Z
 
-.. [[[end]]] (checksum: 22ff0a1433f00d3b4d13544623aaf884)
+.. [[[end]]] (checksum: ee3ef14b5a5d73f987b924df623a4927)
 
 The first regex matches a specific except line followed by a specific function
 call.  Both lines must be present for the exclusion to take effect. Note that
@@ -336,7 +337,7 @@ as possible, and you could accidentally exclude large swaths of code.
 The third regex matches the entire text of a file containing the comment ``#
 pragma: exclude file``.  This lets you exclude files from coverage measurement
 with an internal comment instead of naming them in a settings file.  This regex
-uses the ``"(?s)"`` regex flag to let a dot match any character including a
+uses the ``"(?s:...)"`` regex flag to let a dot match any character including a
 newline.
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_parser.py b/tests/test_parser.py
index 4eeea5870..8bde8ed65 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser.py
+++ b/tests/test_parser.py
@@ -920,7 +920,7 @@ def my_function(args, j):
 
     def test_multiline_exclusion_whole_source(self) -> None:
         # https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/issues/118
-        regex = r"(?s)\A.*# pragma: exclude file.*\Z"
+        regex = r"\A(?s:.*# pragma: exclude file.*)\Z"
         parser = self.parse_text("""\
             import coverage
             # pragma: exclude file