diff --git a/doc/changelog.asciidoc b/doc/changelog.asciidoc
index 0b681a546..28992a1ea 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/changelog.asciidoc
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ Changed
 - The `qute://settings` page is now properly sorted on Python 3.5.
 - `:zoom`, `:zoom-in` and `:zoom-out` now have a `--quiet` switch which causes
   them to not display a message.
+- The `scrolling.bar` setting now takes three values instead of being a
+  boolean: `always`, `never`, and `when-searching` (which only displays it
+  while a search is active).
 
 Fixed
 ~~~~~
diff --git a/doc/help/settings.asciidoc b/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
index 721a6685b..962e9ebae 100644
--- a/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@
 |<<qt.highdpi,qt.highdpi>>|Turn on Qt HighDPI scaling.
 |<<qt.low_end_device_mode,qt.low_end_device_mode>>|When to use Chromium's low-end device mode.
 |<<qt.process_model,qt.process_model>>|Which Chromium process model to use.
-|<<scrolling.bar,scrolling.bar>>|Show a scrollbar.
+|<<scrolling.bar,scrolling.bar>>|When to show the scrollbar.
 |<<scrolling.smooth,scrolling.smooth>>|Enable smooth scrolling for web pages.
 |<<search.ignore_case,search.ignore_case>>|When to find text on a page case-insensitively.
 |<<search.incremental,search.incremental>>|Find text on a page incrementally, renewing the search for each typed character.
@@ -1920,7 +1920,7 @@ On QtWebKit, this setting is unavailable.
 [[content.mute]]
 === content.mute
 Automatically mute tabs.
-Note that if the :tab-mute command is used, the mute status for the affected tab is now controlled manually, and this setting doesn't have any effect.
+Note that if the `:tab-mute` command is used, the mute status for the affected tab is now controlled manually, and this setting doesn't have any effect.
 
 This setting supports URL patterns.
 
@@ -2828,11 +2828,17 @@ This setting is only available with the QtWebEngine backend.
 
 [[scrolling.bar]]
 === scrolling.bar
-Show a scrollbar.
+When to show the scrollbar.
 
-Type: <<types,Bool>>
+Type: <<types,String>>
 
-Default: +pass:[false]+
+Valid values:
+
+ * +always+: Always show the scrollbar.
+ * +never+: Never show the scrollbar.
+ * +when-searching+: Show the scrollbar when searching for text in the webpage. With the QtWebKit backend, this is equal to `never`.
+
+Default: +pass:[when-searching]+
 
 [[scrolling.smooth]]
 === scrolling.smooth
diff --git a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
index 44c9f2e3d..ae9351899 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
+++ b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
@@ -1287,7 +1287,8 @@ scrolling.bar:
     valid_values:
       - always: Always show the scrollbar.
       - never: Never show the scrollbar.
-      - when-searching: Show the scrollbar when searching for text in the webpage.
+      - when-searching: Show the scrollbar when searching for text in the
+            webpage. With the QtWebKit backend, this is equal to `never`.
   default: when-searching
   desc: When to show the scrollbar.