diff --git a/doc/cross-compilation.xml b/doc/cross-compilation.xml
index 650db718665..77d020afa2d 100644
--- a/doc/cross-compilation.xml
+++ b/doc/cross-compilation.xml
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@
     </para>
     <para>
       In Nixpkgs, these three platforms are defined as attribute sets under the names <literal>buildPlatform</literal>, <literal>hostPlatform</literal>, and <literal>targetPlatform</literal>.
-      All three are always defined at the top level, so one can get at them just like a dependency in a function that is imported with <literal>callPackage</literal>:
-      <programlisting>{ stdenv, buildPlatform, hostPlatform, fooDep, barDep, .. }: ...</programlisting>
+      All three are always defined as attributes in the standard environment, and at the top level. That means one can get at them just like a dependency in a function that is imported with <literal>callPackage</literal>:
+      <programlisting>{ stdenv, buildPlatform, hostPlatform, fooDep, barDep, .. }: ...buildPlatform...</programlisting>, or just off <varname>stdenv</varname>:
+      <programlisting>{ stdenv, fooDep, barDep, .. }: ...stdenv.buildPlatform...</programlisting>.
     </para>
     <variablelist>
       <varlistentry>