diff --git a/modules/search/search.api.php b/modules/search/search.api.php
index 557a56e51a5c..a703c88e3179 100644
--- a/modules/search/search.api.php
+++ b/modules/search/search.api.php
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ function hook_search_reset() {
 /**
  * Report the status of indexing.
  *
+ * The core search module only invokes this hook on active modules.
+ * Implementing modules do not need to check whether they are active
+ * calculating their return values.
+ *
  * @return
  *  An associative array with the key-value pairs:
  *  - 'remaining': The number of items left to index.