diff --git a/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.c b/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.c
index bcd42b87..59f99f9b 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.c
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+/* Note: alpm_list.{c,h} are intended to be standalone files. Do not include
+ * any other libalpm headers.
+ */
+
 /* libalpm */
 #include "alpm_list.h"
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.h b/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.h
index 72c73785..3f3566b7 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/alpm_list.h
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 
 #include <stdlib.h> /* size_t */
 
+/* Note: alpm_list.{c,h} are intended to be standalone files. Do not include
+ * any other libalpm headers.
+ */
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif