diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
index 8ac37a0d53..b2ecc66269 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
@@ -293,10 +293,16 @@
         <title><filename>do_populate_sysroot</filename></title>
 
         <para>
-            Copies a subset of files installed by the
+            Copies a subset of the files installed by the
             <link linkend='ref-tasks-install'><filename>do_install</filename></link>
-            task into the sysroot in order to make them available to other
-            recipes.
+            task into the sysroot to make them available to other recipes.
+            Files that would typically not be needed by other recipes at build
+            time are skipped.
+            Skipped files include files installed into
+            <filename>/etc.</filename>
+            For information on what files are copied, see the
+            <link linkend='ref-classes-staging'><filename>staging</filename></link>
+            class.
         </para>
 
         <para>