diff --git a/docs/userguide.rst b/docs/userguide.rst
index e4a275b..6c058f1 100644
--- a/docs/userguide.rst
+++ b/docs/userguide.rst
@@ -185,7 +185,13 @@ repository/layer like this:
         - bsp.yml
         - product.yml
 
-The specified files are addressed relative to your current configuration file.
+The paths to the files in the include list are either absolute, if they start
+with a `/`, or relative.
+
+If the path is relative and the configuration file is inside a repository,
+then path is relative to the repositories base directory. If the
+configuration file is not in a repository, then the path is relative to the
+parent directory of the file.
 
 Including configuration files from other repos
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~