diff --git a/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5 b/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
index 177739ce5803071e9fdb57a9b03008ad92c40063..1d86be9d04dc59603182c4f6becd9433897becca 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
@@ -1373,7 +1373,7 @@ when initially populating a database).  If the rootdn is within
 a namingContext (suffix) of the database, a simple bind password
 may also be provided using the
 .B rootpw
-directive.
+directive. Note that the rootdn is always needed when using syncrepl.
 .TP
 .B rootpw <password>
 Specify a password (or hash of the password) for the rootdn.  The