diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-features.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-features.xml
index 5b8c76f4f8..d6a58cd645 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-features.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-features.xml
@@ -48,13 +48,24 @@
 
         <para>
             The items below are features you can use with
-            <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></link>.
-            Features do not have a one-to-one correspondence to packages, and they can
-            go beyond simply controlling the installation of a package or packages.
-            Sometimes a feature can influence how certain recipes are built.
-            For example, a feature might determine whether a particular configure option
-            is specified within <filename>do_configure</filename> for a particular
-            recipe.
+            <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></link>
+            to enable features across your distribution.
+            Features do not have a one-to-one correspondence to packages,
+            and they can go beyond simply controlling the installation of a
+            package or packages.
+            In most cases, the presence or absence of a feature translates to
+            the appropriate option supplied to the configure script during
+            <filename>do_configure</filename> for the recipes that optionally
+            support the feature.
+        </para>
+
+        <para>
+            Some distro features are also machine features.
+            This select list of features makes sense to be controlled both at
+            the machine and distribution configuration level.
+            See the
+            <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-COMBINED_FEATURES'><filename>COMBINED_FEATURES</filename></ulink>
+            variable for more information.
         </para>
 
         <para>