diff --git a/Documentation/git-checkout.txt b/Documentation/git-checkout.txt
index 11cc7f0588d4e3a3827bf9cf8990edc5ab0da8b0..7958a4700642270ad3f801e314cf870331cf4512 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-checkout.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-checkout.txt
@@ -367,6 +367,18 @@ $ git checkout hello.c            <3>
 <2> take a file out of another commit
 <3> restore hello.c from the index
 +
+If you want to check out _all_ C source files out of the index,
+you can say
++
+------------
+$ git checkout -- '*.c'
+------------
++
+Note the quotes around `*.c`.  The file `hello.c` will also be
+checked out, even though it is no longer in the working tree,
+because the file globbing is used to match entries in the index
+(not in the working tree by the shell).
++
 If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this
 step would be confused as an instruction to switch to that branch.
 You should instead write:
diff --git a/Documentation/gitcli.txt b/Documentation/gitcli.txt
index 3e72a5d68ea75f4e88ef6ec8cf5bd354f1094a5d..f6ba90c2da8f381bc714762f24bbfc33fa82b356 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitcli.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitcli.txt
@@ -37,11 +37,28 @@ arguments.  Here are the rules:
    file called HEAD in your work tree, `git diff HEAD` is ambiguous, and
    you have to say either `git diff HEAD --` or `git diff -- HEAD` to
    disambiguate.
-
++
 When writing a script that is expected to handle random user-input, it is
 a good practice to make it explicit which arguments are which by placing
 disambiguating `--` at appropriate places.
 
+ * Many commands allow wildcards in paths, but you need to protect
+   them from getting globbed by the shell.  These two mean different
+   things:
++
+--------------------------------
+$ git checkout -- *.c
+$ git checkout -- \*.c
+--------------------------------
++
+The former lets your shell expand the fileglob, and you are asking
+the dot-C files in your working tree to be overwritten with the version
+in the index.  The latter passes the `*.c` to Git, and you are asking
+the paths in the index that match the pattern to be checked out to your
+working tree.  After running `git add hello.c; rm hello.c`, you will _not_
+see `hello.c` in your working tree with the former, but with the latter
+you will.
+
 Here are the rules regarding the "flags" that you should follow when you are
 scripting git: