diff --git a/doc/man/knot.conf.5in b/doc/man/knot.conf.5in
index ee61f09a3..17c4efa4a 100644
--- a/doc/man/knot.conf.5in
+++ b/doc/man/knot.conf.5in
@@ -2550,6 +2550,14 @@ assigned member zones.
 \fBmember\fP – A member zone that is assigned to one generated catalog zone.
 .UNINDENT
 .sp
+\fBNOTE:\fP
+.INDENT 0.0
+.INDENT 3.5
+If set to \fBgenerate\fP, the \fI\%zonefile\-load\fP option has no effect
+since a zone file is never loaded.
+.UNINDENT
+.UNINDENT
+.sp
 \fIDefault:\fP \fBnone\fP
 .SS catalog\-template
 .sp
diff --git a/doc/reference.rst b/doc/reference.rst
index 1c6b46ed6..874dab95b 100644
--- a/doc/reference.rst
+++ b/doc/reference.rst
@@ -2793,6 +2793,10 @@ Trigger zone catalog feature. Possible values:
   assigned member zones.
 - ``member`` – A member zone that is assigned to one generated catalog zone.
 
+.. NOTE::
+   If set to ``generate``, the :ref:`zone_zonefile-load` option has no effect
+   since a zone file is never loaded.
+
 *Default:* ``none``
 
 .. _zone_catalog-template: