diff --git a/man2/getdents.2 b/man2/getdents.2
index 70c43c9c3..2852263f1 100644
--- a/man2/getdents.2
+++ b/man2/getdents.2
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ This is a Unix domain socket.
 .B DT_UNKNOWN
 The file type is unknown.
 .PP
+The
+.I d_type
+field is implemented since Linux 2.6.4.
+It occupies a space that was previously a zero-filled padding byte in the
+.IR linux_dirent
+structure.
+Thus, on kernels before 2.6.3,
+attempting to access this field always provides the value 0
+.RB ( DT_UNKNOWN ).
+.PP
 Currently,
 .\" kernel 2.6.27
 .\" The same sentence is in readdir.2