diff --git a/kernel/rcupdate.c b/kernel/rcupdate.c
index afd21d17c081..f3240e987928 100644
--- a/kernel/rcupdate.c
+++ b/kernel/rcupdate.c
@@ -214,6 +214,11 @@ static int rcuhead_fixup_free(void *addr, enum debug_obj_state state)
 		 * Ensure that queued callbacks are all executed.
 		 * If we detect that we are nested in a RCU read-side critical
 		 * section, we should simply fail, otherwise we would deadlock.
+		 * Note that the machinery to reliably determine whether
+		 * or not we are in an RCU read-side critical section
+		 * exists only in the preemptible RCU implementations
+		 * (TINY_PREEMPT_RCU and TREE_PREEMPT_RCU), which is why
+		 * DEBUG_OBJECTS_RCU_HEAD is disallowed if !PREEMPT.
 		 */
 		if (rcu_preempt_depth() != 0 || preempt_count() != 0 ||
 		    irqs_disabled()) {