diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
index e919bd7eb3..c58c56755b 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-classes.xml
@@ -194,7 +194,14 @@
         class or the
         <link linkend='ref-classes-package'><filename>package</filename></link>
         class.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
         The class also contains some commonly used functions such as
+        <filename>oe_runmake</filename>, which runs
+        <filename>make</filename> with the arguments specified in
+        <link linkend='var-EXTRA_OEMAKE'><filename>EXTRA_OEMAKE</filename></link>
+        variable as well as the arguments passed directly to
         <filename>oe_runmake</filename>.
     </para>
 </section>
diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
index d2502362d7..9b1e8e3a41 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-tasks.xml
@@ -69,9 +69,19 @@
         <title><filename>do_compile</filename></title>
 
         <para>
-            Compiles the source in the compilation directory, which is pointed
-            to by the
-            <link linkend='var-B'><filename>B</filename></link> variable.
+            Compiles the source code.
+            This task runs with the current working directory set
+            to
+            <filename>${</filename><link linkend='var-B'><filename>B</filename></link><filename>}</filename>.
+        </para>
+
+        <para>
+            The default behavior of this task is to run the
+            <filename>oe_runmake</filename> task if a makefile
+            (<filename>Makefile</filename>, <filename>makefile</filename>,
+            or <filename>GNUmakefile</filename>) is found.
+            If no such file is found, the <filename>do_compile</filename>
+            task does nothing.
         </para>
     </section>
 
diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/technical-details.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/technical-details.xml
index 193787d312..8535d2c6e8 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/technical-details.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/technical-details.xml
@@ -754,11 +754,13 @@
                     section in the BitBake User Manual.
                     </para></listitem>
                 <listitem><para>
-                    The
-                    <filename>do_deploy[dirs] = "${DEPLOYDIR} ${B}"</filename>
+                    The <filename>do_deploy[dirs] = "${DEPLOYDIR} ${B}"</filename>
                     line creates <filename>${DEPLOYDIR}</filename> and
                     <filename>${B}</filename> before the
-                    <filename>do_deploy</filename> task runs.
+                    <filename>do_deploy</filename> task runs, and also sets
+                    the current working directory of
+                    <filename>do_deploy</filename> to
+                    <filename>${B}</filename>.
                     For more information, see the
                     "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_BB_URL;#variable-flags'>Variable Flags</ulink>"
                     section in the BitBake User Manual.