1 files changed, 11 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst b/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
index def98de307..44e2dd08a8 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
@@ -3929,9 +3929,18 @@ system and gives an overview of their function and contents.
    :term:`INCOMPATIBLE_LICENSE`
       Specifies a space-separated list of license names (as they would
       appear in :term:`LICENSE`) that should be excluded
-      from the build. Recipes that provide no alternatives to listed
+      from the build (if set globally), or from an image (if set locally
+      in an image recipe). 
+
+      When the variable is set globally, recipes that provide no alternatives to listed
       incompatible licenses are not built. Packages that are individually
-      licensed with the specified incompatible licenses will be deleted.
+      licensed with the specified incompatible licenses will be deleted. 
+      Most of the time this does not allow a feasible build (because it becomes impossible
+      to satisfy build time dependencies), so the recommended way to
+      implement license restrictions is to set the variable in specific
+      image recipes where the restrictions must apply. That way there 
+      are no build time restrictions, but the license check is still
+      performed when the image's filesystem is assembled from packages.
 
       There is some support for wildcards in this variable's value,
       however it is restricted to specific licenses. Currently only