diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 982c8b130f..b7236adeca 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -941,7 +941,7 @@ experience, **Heroku** is the easiest to get started with, it will automatically
  - *A database user is required to connect to this database.* **Click here** *to create a new one.*
 - Click the link and fill in **DB Username** and **DB Password** fields
 - Finally, in `secrets.js` instead of `db: 'localhost'`, use the following URI with your credentials:
- - `db: 'mongodb://<dbuser>:<dbpassword>@ds027479.mongolab.com:27479/<dbname>'`
+ - `db: 'mongodb://USERNAME:PASSWORD@ds027479.mongolab.com:27479/DATABASE_NAME'`
 
 > **:exclamation:Note**: As an alternative to MongoLab, there is also [MongoHQ](http://www.mongohq.com/home).