diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
index e65004f8ff..b3befc3037 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
@@ -41,6 +41,30 @@
     for more information.
 </para>
 
+<section id='ref-classes-allarch'>
+    <title><filename>allarch.bbclass</filename></title>
+
+    <para>
+        The all architecture (<filename>allarch</filename>) class is inherited
+        by recipes that do not produce architecture-specific output.
+        The class disables functionality that is normally needed for recipes
+        that produce executable binaries (such as building the cross-compiler
+        and a C library as pre-requisites, and splitting out of debug symbols
+        during packaging).
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        By default, all recipes inherit the
+        <link linkend='ref-classes-base'><filename>base</filename></link> and
+        <link linkend='ref-classes-package'><filename>package</filename></link>
+        classes, which enable functionality
+        needed for recipes that produce executable output.
+        If your recipe, for example, only produces packages that contain
+        configuration files, media files, or scripts (e.g. Python and Perl),
+        then it should inherit the <filename>allarch</filename> class.
+    </para>
+</section>
+
 <section id='ref-classes-base'>
     <title>The base Class - <filename>base.bbclass</filename></title>