diff --git a/include/linux/rcupdate.h b/include/linux/rcupdate.h
index fdc422f3d61d..3c5ef02ea580 100644
--- a/include/linux/rcupdate.h
+++ b/include/linux/rcupdate.h
@@ -949,6 +949,9 @@ static inline notrace void rcu_read_unlock_sched_notrace(void)
  * pointers, but you must use rcu_assign_pointer() to initialize the
  * external-to-structure pointer -after- you have completely initialized
  * the reader-accessible portions of the linked structure.
+ *
+ * Note that unlike rcu_assign_pointer(), RCU_INIT_POINTER() provides no
+ * ordering guarantees for either the CPU or the compiler.
  */
 #define RCU_INIT_POINTER(p, v) \
 	do { \