diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
index 1357386ddf..43715da5d8 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
@@ -8354,6 +8354,32 @@ recipes-graphics/xorg-font/font-alias_1.0.3.bb:PR = "${INC_PR}.3"
             </glossdef>
         </glossentry>
 
+        <glossentry id='var-PACKAGE_EXCLUDE_COMPLEMENTARY'><glossterm>PACKAGE_EXCLUDE_COMPLEMENTARY</glossterm>
+            <info>
+                PACKAGE_EXCLUDE_COMPLEMENTARY[doc] = "Prevents specific packages from being installed when you are installing complementary packages."
+            </info>
+            <glossdef>
+                <para role="glossdeffirst">
+<!--                <para role="glossdeffirst"><imagedata fileref="figures/define-generic.png" /> -->
+                    Prevents specific packages from being installed when
+                    you are installing complementary packages.
+                </para>
+
+                <para>
+                    You might find that you want to prevent installing certain
+                    packages when you are installing complementary packages.
+                    For example, if you are using
+                    <link linkend='var-IMAGE_FEATURES'><filename>IMAGE_FEATURES</filename></link>
+                    to install <filename>dev-pkgs</filename>, you might not want
+                    to install all packages from a particular multilib.
+                    If you find yourself in this situation, you can use the
+                    <filename>PACKAGE_EXCLUDE_COMPLEMENTARY</filename> variable
+                    to specify regular expressions to match the packages you
+                    want to exclude.
+                </para>
+            </glossdef>
+        </glossentry>
+
         <glossentry id='var-PACKAGE_EXCLUDE'><glossterm>PACKAGE_EXCLUDE</glossterm>
             <info>
                 PACKAGE_EXCLUDE[doc] = "Packages to exclude from the installation. If a listed package is required, an error is generated."