diff --git a/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst b/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
index 47fe195c..eeba97f0 100644
--- a/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
+++ b/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ Configure one or more hosts.
     Read additional hosts to operate on from specified file
     or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line).
     If no host or host file is specified then, by default,
-    read hosts from stdin.
+    read hosts from stdin. For the file format see below.
 
 .. option:: -i MANIFEST, --initial-manifest MANIFEST
 
@@ -117,6 +117,15 @@ Configure one or more hosts.
 
     Command to use for remote execution (should behave like ssh)
 
+
+HOSTFILE FORMAT
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+HOSTFILE contains hosts per line.
+All characters after and including '#' until the end of line is a comment
+and is stripped away.
+Empty lines and comment lines (line that starts with '#') are skipped.
+
+
 SHELL
 -----
 This command allows you to spawn a shell that enables access