diff --git a/doc/man/man5/slapd-bdb.5 b/doc/man/man5/slapd-bdb.5
index bef49fd4d7..99f8afede3 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/slapd-bdb.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/slapd-bdb.5
@@ -10,9 +10,11 @@ ETCDIR/slapd.conf
 The BDB backend to
 .BR slapd (8)
 is the recommended backend for a normal slapd database.
+However, it takes more care than with the LDBM backend to configure
+it properly.
 It uses the Sleepycat Berkeley DB (BDB) package to store data.
 It makes extensive use of indexing and caching to speed data access.
-.TP
+.LP
 It is noted that these options are intended to complement
 Berkeley DB configuration options set in the environment's
 .B DB_CONFIG
@@ -130,4 +132,4 @@ Berkeley DB configuration file
 .BR slapadd (8),
 .BR slapcat (8),
 .BR slapindex (8),
-.BR Berkeley DB documentation .
+Berkeley DB documentation.
diff --git a/doc/man/man5/slapd-ldbm.5 b/doc/man/man5/slapd-ldbm.5
index 70b46055d1..2fee753739 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/slapd-ldbm.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/slapd-ldbm.5
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ ETCDIR/slapd.conf
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 The LDBM backend to
 .BR slapd (8)
-is a database which uses one of BerkeleyDB, GNU DBM, MDBM or NDBM to
-store data.
+is the database backend which is easiest to configure.
+However, it does not offer the data durability features of the BDB
+backend.
+It uses Berkeley DB or GDBM to store data.
 It makes extensive use of indexing and caching to speed data access.
 .SH CONFIGURATION
 These
@@ -102,8 +104,11 @@ can be decomposed into
 .B subfinal
 indices.
 The special type
-.B nolang
-may be specified to disallow use of this index by language subtypes.
+.B notags
+(or
+.BR nolang )
+may be specified to disallow use of this index by subtypes with tagging
+options (such as language options).
 The special type
 .B nosubtypes
 may be specified to disallow use of this index by named subtypes.
diff --git a/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5 b/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
index da0d011516..18d0486af4 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/slapd.conf.5
@@ -1098,9 +1098,72 @@ is asked to modify a replicated local database.
 If specified multiple times, each url is provided.
 .SH DATABASE-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
 Each database may allow specific configuration options; they are
-documented separately in the
+documented separately in the backends' manual pages.
+.SH BACKENDS
+The following backends can be compiled into slapd.
+They are documented in the
 .BR slapd-<backend> (5)
 manual pages.
+.TP
+.B bdb
+This is the recommended backend for a normal slapd database.
+However, it takes more care than with the LDBM backend to configure
+it properly.
+It uses the Sleepycat Berkeley DB (BDB) package to store data.
+.TP
+.B ldbm
+This is the database backend which is easiest to configure.
+However, it does not offer the data durability features of the BDB
+backend.
+It uses Berkeley DB or GDBM to store data.
+.TP
+.B dnssrv
+This backend is experimental.
+It serves up referrals based upon SRV resource records held in the
+Domain Name System.
+.TP
+.B ldap
+This backend acts as a proxy to forward incoming requests to another
+LDAP server.
+.TP
+.B meta
+This backend performs basic LDAP proxying with respect to a set of
+remote LDAP servers.
+It is an enhancement of the ldap backend.
+.TP
+.B monitor
+This backend provides information about the running status of the slapd
+daemon.
+.TP
+.B null
+Operations in this backend succeed but do nothing.
+.TP
+.B passwd
+This backend is provided for demonstration purposes only.
+It serves up user account information from the system
+.BR passwd (5)
+file.
+.TP
+.B perl
+This backend embeds a
+.BR perl (1)
+interpreter into slapd.
+It runs Perl subroutines to implement LDAP operations.
+.TP
+.B shell
+This backend executes external programs to implement LDAP operations.
+It is is primarily intended to be used in prototypes.
+.TP
+.B sql
+This backend is experimental.
+It services LDAP requests from an SQL database.
+.TP
+.B tcl
+This backend is experimental.
+It embeds a
+.BR Tcl (3tcl)
+interpreter into slapd.
+It runs Tcl commands to implement LDAP operations.
 .SH EXAMPLES
 .LP
 Here is a short example of a configuration file:
@@ -1120,7 +1183,7 @@ database  bdb
 suffix    "dc=our-domain,dc=com"
 # The database directory MUST exist prior to
 # running slapd AND should only be accessible
-# by the slapd/tools. Mode 700 recommended.
+# by the slapd/tools. Mode 0700 recommended.
 directory LOCALSTATEDIR/openldap-data
 # Indices to maintain
 index     objectClass  eq
@@ -1149,6 +1212,7 @@ default slapd configuration file
 .BR slapd-ldap (5),
 .BR slapd-ldbm (5),
 .BR slapd-meta (5),
+.BR slapd-monitor (5),
 .BR slapd-null (5),
 .BR slapd-passwd (5),
 .BR slapd-perl (5),