diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
index 7dafb313b5..17203fe68e 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-variables.xml
@@ -3423,20 +3423,28 @@
 
         <glossentry id='var-DISTROOVERRIDES'><glossterm>DISTROOVERRIDES</glossterm>
             <info>
-                DISTROOVERRIDES[doc] = "Lists overrides specific to the current distribution. By default, the variable list includes the value of the DISTRO variable."
+                DISTROOVERRIDES[doc] = "A colon-separated list of overrides specific to the current distribution."
             </info>
             <glossdef>
                 <para role="glossdeffirst">
 <!--                <para role="glossdeffirst"><imagedata fileref="figures/define-generic.png" /> -->
-                    This variable lists overrides specific to the current
-                    distribution.
-                    By default, the variable list includes the value of the
-                    <filename><link linkend='var-DISTRO'>DISTRO</link></filename>
-                    variable.
-                    You can extend the variable to apply any variable overrides
-                    you want as part of the distribution and are not
-                    already in <filename>OVERRIDES</filename> through
-                    some other means.
+                    A colon-separated list of overrides specific to the
+                    current distribution.
+                    By default, this list includes the value of
+                    <link linkend='var-DISTRO'><filename>DISTRO</filename></link>.
+                </para>
+
+                <para>
+                    You can extend <filename>DISTROOVERRIDES</filename>
+                    to add extra overrides that should apply to
+                    the distribution.
+                </para>
+
+                <para>
+                    The underlying mechanism behind
+                    <filename>DISTROOVERRIDES</filename> is simply that it
+                    is included in the default value of
+                    <link linkend='var-OVERRIDES'><filename>OVERRIDES</filename></link>.
                 </para>
             </glossdef>
         </glossentry>