diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
index 3928a1fa42..09e115b410 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
@@ -924,6 +924,36 @@
             </glossdef>
         </glossentry>
 
+        <glossentry id='var-BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT_AUTHOR'><glossterm>BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT_AUTHOR</glossterm>
+            <glossdef>
+                <para>
+                    When inheriting the
+                    <link linkend='ref-classes-buildhistory'><filename>buildhistory</filename></link>
+                    class, specifies the author to use for each Git commit.
+                    In order for the <filename>BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT_AUTHOR</filename>
+                    variable to work, the
+                    <link linkend='var-BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT'><filename>BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT</filename></link>
+                    variable must be set to "1".
+                </para>
+
+                <para>
+                    Git requires that the value you provide for the
+                    <filename>BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT_AUTHOR</filename> variable
+                    takes the form of "name &lt;email@host&gt;".
+                    Providing an email address or host that is not valid does
+                    not produce an error.
+                </para>
+
+                <para>
+                    By default, the <filename>buildhistory</filename> class
+                    sets the variable as follows:
+                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
+     BUILDHISTORY_COMMIT_AUTHOR ?= "buildhistory &lt;buildhistory@${DISTRO}&gt;"
+                    </literallayout>
+                </para>
+            </glossdef>
+        </glossentry>
+
         <glossentry id='var-BUILDHISTORY_DIR'><glossterm>BUILDHISTORY_DIR</glossterm>
             <glossdef>
                 <para>