diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/pipelines/components/pipeline_url.vue b/app/assets/javascripts/pipelines/components/pipeline_url.vue
index 3f021a26ec5..e01080b04d6 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/pipelines/components/pipeline_url.vue
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/pipelines/components/pipeline_url.vue
@@ -102,7 +102,11 @@ export default {
       <span
         v-if="pipeline.flags.detached_merge_request_pipeline"
         v-gl-tooltip
-        :title="__('This pipeline is run on the source branch')"
+        :title="
+          __(
+            'The code of a detached pipeline is tested against the source branch instead of merged results',
+          )
+        "
         class="js-pipeline-url-detached badge badge-info"
       >
         {{ __('detached') }}
diff --git a/app/views/projects/pipelines/_info.html.haml b/app/views/projects/pipelines/_info.html.haml
index 5d307d6a70d..2b56ada8b73 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/pipelines/_info.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/pipelines/_info.html.haml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
       } }
         Auto DevOps
     - if @pipeline.detached_merge_request_pipeline?
-      %span.js-pipeline-url-mergerequest.badge.badge-info.has-tooltip{ title: "This pipeline is run on the source branch" }
+      %span.js-pipeline-url-mergerequest.badge.badge-info.has-tooltip{ title: "The code of a detached pipeline is tested against the source branch instead of merged results" }
         detached
     - if @pipeline.stuck?
       %span.js-pipeline-url-stuck.badge.badge-warning
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/62137-add-tooltip-to-improve-clarity-of-detached-label-state-in-the-merge-request-pipeline.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/62137-add-tooltip-to-improve-clarity-of-detached-label-state-in-the-merge-request-pipeline.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ccc3195e6ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/62137-add-tooltip-to-improve-clarity-of-detached-label-state-in-the-merge-request-pipeline.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Updated the detached pipeline badge tooltip text to offer a better explanation
+merge_request: 31626
+author:
+type: other
diff --git a/locale/gitlab.pot b/locale/gitlab.pot
index 9bc2fd1b8f4..8c8985b398c 100644
--- a/locale/gitlab.pot
+++ b/locale/gitlab.pot
@@ -10888,6 +10888,9 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "The character highlighter helps you keep the subject line to %{titleLength} characters and wrap the body at %{bodyLength} so they are readable in git."
 msgstr ""
 
+msgid "The code of a detached pipeline is tested against the source branch instead of merged results"
+msgstr ""
+
 msgid "The coding stage shows the time from the first commit to creating the merge request. The data will automatically be added here once you create your first merge request."
 msgstr ""
 
@@ -11383,9 +11386,6 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "This page will be removed in a future release."
 msgstr ""
 
-msgid "This pipeline is run on the source branch"
-msgstr ""
-
 msgid "This pipeline makes use of a predefined CI/CD configuration enabled by %{strongStart}Auto DevOps.%{strongEnd}"
 msgstr ""