diff --git a/oslo_cache/_opts.py b/oslo_cache/_opts.py
index 07091d8..6c8a713 100644
--- a/oslo_cache/_opts.py
+++ b/oslo_cache/_opts.py
@@ -34,15 +34,20 @@ FILE_OPTIONS = {
         # prevent issues with the memory cache ending up in "production"
         # unintentionally, we register a no-op as the default caching backend.
         cfg.StrOpt('backend', default=_DEFAULT_BACKEND,
-                   help='Dogpile.cache backend module. It is recommended '
-                        'that Memcache or Redis (dogpile.cache.redis) be used '
-                        'in production deployments. For eventlet-based or '
-                        'highly threaded servers, Memcache with pooling '
-                        '(oslo_cache.memcache_pool) is recommended. For low '
-                        'thread servers, dogpile.cache.memcached is '
-                        'recommended. Test environments with a single '
-                        'instance of the server can use the '
-                        'dogpile.cache.memory backend.'),
+                   choices=['oslo_cache.memcache_pool',
+                            'oslo_cache.dict',
+                            'dogpile.cache.memcached',
+                            'dogpile.cache.redis',
+                            'dogpile.cache.memory',
+                            'dogpile.cache.null'],
+                   help='Cache backend module. For eventlet-based or '
+                   'environments with hundreds of threaded servers, Memcache '
+                   'with pooling (oslo_cache.memcache_pool) is recommended. '
+                   'For environments with less than 100 threaded servers, '
+                   'Memcached (dogpile.cache.memcached) or Redis '
+                   '(dogpile.cache.redis) is recommended. Test environments '
+                   'with a single instance of the server can use the '
+                   'dogpile.cache.memory backend.'),
         cfg.MultiStrOpt('backend_argument', default=[], secret=True,
                         help='Arguments supplied to the backend module. '
                              'Specify this option once per argument to be '
diff --git a/oslo_cache/tests/test_cache.py b/oslo_cache/tests/test_cache.py
index ed658a0..fba7f87 100644
--- a/oslo_cache/tests/test_cache.py
+++ b/oslo_cache/tests/test_cache.py
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ class CacheRegionTest(BaseTestCase):
         """Validate we build a sane dogpile.cache dictionary config."""
         self.config_fixture.config(group='cache',
                                    config_prefix='test_prefix',
-                                   backend='some_test_backend',
+                                   backend='oslo_cache.dict',
                                    expiration_time=86400,
                                    backend_argument=['arg1:test',
                                                      'arg2:test:test',
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ class CacheRegionTest(BaseTestCase):
         self.config_fixture.config(group='cache',
                                    enabled=False,
                                    config_prefix='test_prefix',
-                                   backend='some_test_backend')
+                                   backend='oslo_cache.dict')
 
         self.assertFalse(self.config_fixture.conf.cache.enabled)
         config_dict = cache._build_cache_config(self.config_fixture.conf)