diff --git a/.changelog/9637.txt b/.changelog/9637.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8ec013c0699
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/9637.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:none
+
+```
diff --git a/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription.go b/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription.go
index 92942b62458..9b6734ca984 100644
--- a/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription.go
+++ b/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription.go
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@ func ResourcePubsubSubscription() *schema.Resource {
 				Required:         true,
 				ForceNew:         true,
 				DiffSuppressFunc: tpgresource.CompareSelfLinkOrResourceName,
-				Description:      `A reference to a Topic resource.`,
+				Description: `A reference to a Topic resource, of the form projects/{project}/topics/{{name}}
+(as in the id property of a google_pubsub_topic), or just a topic name if
+the topic is in the same project as the subscription.`,
 			},
 			"ack_deadline_seconds": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeInt,
diff --git a/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription_generated_test.go b/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription_generated_test.go
index 8b7a2d148cf..2e107fd964b 100644
--- a/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription_generated_test.go
+++ b/google/services/pubsub/resource_pubsub_subscription_generated_test.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   ack_deadline_seconds = 20
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   labels = {
     foo = "bar"
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example_dead_letter" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   dead_letter_policy {
     dead_letter_topic = google_pubsub_topic.example_dead_letter.id
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   bigquery_config {
     table = "${google_bigquery_table.test.project}.${google_bigquery_table.test.dataset_id}.${google_bigquery_table.test.table_id}"
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   cloud_storage_config {
     bucket = google_storage_bucket.example.name
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "tf-test-example-subscription%{random_suffix}"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   cloud_storage_config {
     bucket = google_storage_bucket.example.name
diff --git a/website/docs/r/pubsub_subscription.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/pubsub_subscription.html.markdown
index e4979c538f5..57157ed4a31 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/pubsub_subscription.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/pubsub_subscription.html.markdown
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   ack_deadline_seconds = 20
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   labels = {
     foo = "bar"
@@ -102,21 +102,6 @@ resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   enable_message_ordering    = false
 }
 ```
-## Example Usage - Pubsub Subscription Different Project
-
-
-```hcl
-resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
-  project = "topic-project"
-  name    = "example-topic"
-}
-
-resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
-  project = "subscription-project"
-  name    = "example-subscription"
-  topic   = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
-}
-```
 <div class = "oics-button" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 -15px">
   <a href="https://console.cloud.google.com/cloudshell/open?cloudshell_git_repo=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fterraform-google-modules%2Fdocs-examples.git&cloudshell_working_dir=pubsub_subscription_dead_letter&cloudshell_image=gcr.io%2Fcloudshell-images%2Fcloudshell%3Alatest&open_in_editor=main.tf&cloudshell_print=.%2Fmotd&cloudshell_tutorial=.%2Ftutorial.md" target="_blank">
     <img alt="Open in Cloud Shell" src="//gstatic.com/cloudssh/images/open-btn.svg" style="max-height: 44px; margin: 32px auto; max-width: 100%;">
@@ -136,7 +121,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example_dead_letter" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   dead_letter_policy {
     dead_letter_topic = google_pubsub_topic.example_dead_letter.id
@@ -159,7 +144,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   bigquery_config {
     table = "${google_bigquery_table.test.project}.${google_bigquery_table.test.dataset_id}.${google_bigquery_table.test.table_id}"
@@ -225,7 +210,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   cloud_storage_config {
     bucket = google_storage_bucket.example.name
@@ -272,7 +257,7 @@ resource "google_pubsub_topic" "example" {
 
 resource "google_pubsub_subscription" "example" {
   name  = "example-subscription"
-  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.name
+  topic = google_pubsub_topic.example.id
 
   cloud_storage_config {
     bucket = google_storage_bucket.example.name
@@ -314,7 +299,9 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 * `topic` -
   (Required)
-  A reference to a Topic resource.
+  A reference to a Topic resource, of the form projects/{project}/topics/{{name}}
+  (as in the id property of a google_pubsub_topic), or just a topic name if
+  the topic is in the same project as the subscription.
 
 
 - - -