diff --git a/docs/userguide.rst b/docs/userguide.rst
index 36f2600..fb5e263 100644
--- a/docs/userguide.rst
+++ b/docs/userguide.rst
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ Configuration reference
       from every included file. An item in this list can have one of two types:
 
     * item: string
-        The path to a kas configuration file, relative to the current file.
+        The path to a kas configuration file, relative to the repository root
+        of the current file.
 
     * item: dict
         If files from other repositories should be included, choose this
@@ -274,7 +275,8 @@ Configuration reference
           needs to be defined in the ``repos`` dictionary as ``<repo-id>``.
 
       * ``file``: string [required]
-          The path to the file relative to the root of the repository.
+          The path to the file, relative to the root of the specified
+          repository.
 
 * ``build_system``: string [optional]
     Defines the bitbake-based build system. Known build systems are
diff --git a/kas/includehandler.py b/kas/includehandler.py
index c8f76a5..84eec79 100644
--- a/kas/includehandler.py
+++ b/kas/includehandler.py
@@ -114,14 +114,11 @@ class IncludeHandler:
         key containing a list of includes.
 
         The includes can be specified in two ways: as a string
-        containing the relative path from the current file or as a
-        dictionary. The dictionary should have a 'file' key containing
-        the relative path to the include file and optionally a 'repo'
-        key containing the key of the repository. If the 'repo' key is
-        missing the value of the 'file' key, it is treated the same as if
-        just a string was defined, meaning the path is relative to the
-        current config file. Otherwise it is interpreted relative to
-        the repository path.
+        containing the path, relative to the repository root from the
+        current file, or as a dictionary. The dictionary must have a
+        'file' key containing the path to the include file and a 'repo'
+        key containing the key of the repository. The path is interpreted
+        relative to the repository root path.
 
         The includes are read and merged from the deepest level upwards.
     """
@@ -155,7 +152,6 @@ class IncludeHandler:
             header:
               includes:
                 - include1.yml
-                - file: include2.yml
                 - repo: repo1
                   file: include-repo1.yml
                 - repo: repo2