diff --git a/Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
index abd7dc7ae24050f440551fece8df0757e5d33ed5..87825cf96f3327f68ca97709bddf1515d3bcd43a 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ Original by:
 Last update:
 	2016-09-14
 
+.. note::
+
+   This document is obsolete.  In most cases, rather than using ``patch``
+   manually, you'll almost certainly want to look at using Git instead.
 
 A frequently asked question on the Linux Kernel Mailing List is how to apply
 a patch to the kernel or, more specifically, what base kernel a patch for