diff --git a/go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go b/go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go
index c0b48e2405..306b6f7705 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go
@@ -225,7 +225,10 @@ var commands = []commandGroup{
 				"Add or remove served type to/from a shard. This is meant as an emergency function. It does not rebuild any serving graph i.e. does not run 'RebuildKeyspaceGraph'."},
 			{"SetShardTabletControl", commandSetShardTabletControl,
 				"[--cells=c1,c2,...] [--blacklisted_tables=t1,t2,...] [--remove] [--disable_query_service] <keyspace/shard> <tablet type>",
-				"Sets the TabletControl record for a shard and type. Only use this for an emergency fix or after a finished vertical split. The *MigrateServedFrom* and *MigrateServedType* commands set this field appropriately already. Always specify the blacklisted_tables flag for vertical splits, but never for horizontal splits."},
+				"Sets the TabletControl record for a shard and type. Only use this for an emergency fix or after a finished vertical split. The *MigrateServedFrom* and *MigrateServedType* commands set this field appropriately already. Always specify the blacklisted_tables flag for vertical splits, but never for horizontal splits.\n" +
+					"To set the DisableQueryServiceFlag, keep 'blacklisted_tables' empty, and set 'disable_query_service' to true or false. Useful to fix horizontal splits gone wrong.\n" +
+					"To change the blacklisted tables list, specify the 'blacklisted_tables' parameter with the new list. Useful to fix tables that are being blocked after a vertical split.\n" +
+					"To just remove the ShardTabletControl entirely, use the 'remove' flag, useful after a vertical split is finished to remove serving restrictions."},
 			{"SourceShardDelete", commandSourceShardDelete,
 				"<keyspace/shard> <uid>",
 				"Deletes the SourceShard record with the provided index. This is meant as an emergency cleanup function. It does not call RefreshState for the shard master."},
@@ -1230,9 +1233,9 @@ func commandSetShardServedTypes(ctx context.Context, wr *wrangler.Wrangler, subF
 
 func commandSetShardTabletControl(ctx context.Context, wr *wrangler.Wrangler, subFlags *flag.FlagSet, args []string) error {
 	cellsStr := subFlags.String("cells", "", "Specifies a comma-separated list of cells to update")
-	tablesStr := subFlags.String("tables", "", "Specifies a comma-separated list of tables to replicate (used for vertical split). Each is either an exact match, or a regular expression of the form /regexp/")
-	remove := subFlags.Bool("remove", false, "Removes cells for vertical splits. This flag requires the *tables* flag to also be set.")
-	disableQueryService := subFlags.Bool("disable_query_service", false, "Disables query service on the provided nodes")
+	blacklistedTablesStr := subFlags.String("blacklisted_tables", "", "Specifies a comma-separated list of tables to blacklist (used for vertical split). Each is either an exact match, or a regular expression of the form '/regexp/'.")
+	remove := subFlags.Bool("remove", false, "Removes cells for vertical splits.")
+	disableQueryService := subFlags.Bool("disable_query_service", false, "Disables query service on the provided nodes. This flag requires 'blacklisted_tables' and 'remove' to be unset, otherwise it's ignored.")
 	if err := subFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -1247,16 +1250,16 @@ func commandSetShardTabletControl(ctx context.Context, wr *wrangler.Wrangler, su
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	var tables []string
-	if *tablesStr != "" {
-		tables = strings.Split(*tablesStr, ",")
+	var blacklistedTables []string
+	if *blacklistedTablesStr != "" {
+		blacklistedTables = strings.Split(*blacklistedTablesStr, ",")
 	}
 	var cells []string
 	if *cellsStr != "" {
 		cells = strings.Split(*cellsStr, ",")
 	}
 
-	return wr.SetShardTabletControl(ctx, keyspace, shard, tabletType, cells, *remove, *disableQueryService, tables)
+	return wr.SetShardTabletControl(ctx, keyspace, shard, tabletType, cells, *remove, *disableQueryService, blacklistedTables)
 }
 
 func commandSourceShardDelete(ctx context.Context, wr *wrangler.Wrangler, subFlags *flag.FlagSet, args []string) error {
diff --git a/go/vt/wrangler/shard.go b/go/vt/wrangler/shard.go
index e137015206..c89fd71fab 100644
--- a/go/vt/wrangler/shard.go
+++ b/go/vt/wrangler/shard.go
@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@ func (wr *Wrangler) SetShardServedTypes(ctx context.Context, keyspace, shard str
 //   the TabletControl record for the cells
 //
 // This takes the keyspace lock as to not interfere with resharding operations.
-func (wr *Wrangler) SetShardTabletControl(ctx context.Context, keyspace, shard string, tabletType topodatapb.TabletType, cells []string, remove, disableQueryService bool, tables []string) (err error) {
+func (wr *Wrangler) SetShardTabletControl(ctx context.Context, keyspace, shard string, tabletType topodatapb.TabletType, cells []string, remove, disableQueryService bool, blacklistedTables []string) (err error) {
 	// check input
-	if disableQueryService && len(tables) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("SetShardTabletControl cannot have both DisableQueryService set and tables set")
+	if disableQueryService && len(blacklistedTables) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("SetShardTabletControl cannot have both DisableQueryService and BlacklistedTables set")
 	}
 
 	// lock the keyspace
@@ -98,13 +98,13 @@ func (wr *Wrangler) SetShardTabletControl(ctx context.Context, keyspace, shard s
 
 	// update the shard
 	_, err = wr.ts.UpdateShardFields(ctx, keyspace, shard, func(si *topo.ShardInfo) error {
-		if len(tables) == 0 && !remove {
+		if len(blacklistedTables) == 0 && !remove {
 			// we are setting the DisableQueryService flag only
 			return si.UpdateDisableQueryService(ctx, tabletType, cells, disableQueryService)
 		}
 
 		// we are setting / removing the blacklisted tables only
-		return si.UpdateSourceBlacklistedTables(ctx, tabletType, cells, remove, tables)
+		return si.UpdateSourceBlacklistedTables(ctx, tabletType, cells, remove, blacklistedTables)
 	})
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/test/vertical_split.py b/test/vertical_split.py
index e3baffc3a7..98cf0ed0df 100755
--- a/test/vertical_split.py
+++ b/test/vertical_split.py
@@ -585,7 +585,8 @@ index by_msg (msg)
     self._assert_tablet_controls([topodata_pb2.MASTER, topodata_pb2.REPLICA])
 
     # re-add rdonly:
-    utils.run_vtctl(['SetShardTabletControl', '--tables=/moving/,view1',
+    utils.run_vtctl(['SetShardTabletControl',
+                     '--blacklisted_tables=/moving/,view1',
                      'source_keyspace/0', 'rdonly'], auto_log=True)
     self._assert_tablet_controls([topodata_pb2.MASTER, topodata_pb2.REPLICA,
                                   topodata_pb2.RDONLY])