diff --git a/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index 163ab6bc8..1aba61b01 100644
--- a/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# ================================================================
+# NOTE: This makefile is not intended to be used in a packaging system --
+# rather, Miller uses autconfig for that. This makefile is intended for users
+# who prefer (for whatever reason) to bypass autoconfig.  Please also see
+# http://johnkerl.org/miller/doc/build.html#Without_using_autoconfig
+# ================================================================
+
 MANDIR  ?= /usr/share/man
 DESTDIR ?=
 
diff --git a/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index 4cf304bab..4b5b5caa7 100644
--- a/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# ================================================================
+# NOTE: This makefile is not intended to be used in a packaging system --
+# rather, Miller uses autconfig for that. This makefile is intended for users
+# who prefer (for whatever reason) to bypass autoconfig.  Please also see
+# http://johnkerl.org/miller/doc/build.html#Without_using_autoconfig
+# ================================================================
+
 # ================================================================
 # Travis does "export CC=gcc", "export CC=clang" so we can pick those up via
 # "make -e" in ../.travis.yml.  Note that "CC?=gcc", without make -e, results
diff --git a/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index a6b05afd2..b351be233 100644
--- a/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# ================================================================
+# NOTE: This makefile is not intended to be used in a packaging system --
+# rather, Miller uses autconfig for that. This makefile is intended for users
+# who prefer (for whatever reason) to bypass autoconfig.  Please also see
+# http://johnkerl.org/miller/doc/build.html#Without_using_autoconfig
+# ================================================================
+
 CC=gcc
 
 CFLAGS=-I.. -O3
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/doc/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index d27c6838b..99138a2b4 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/doc/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# ================================================================
+# NOTE: This makefile is not intended to be used in a packaging system --
+# rather, Miller uses autconfig for that. This makefile is intended for users
+# who prefer (for whatever reason) to bypass autoconfig.  Please also see
+# http://johnkerl.org/miller/doc/build.html#Without_using_autoconfig
+# ================================================================
+
 all: html man
 
 # Respective MANPATH entries would include /usr/local/share/man or $HOME/man