diff --git a/doc/manual/src/release-notes/release-notes.md b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/release-notes.md
index dbda0babd..1fa2f5580 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/release-notes/release-notes.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/release-notes.md
@@ -3,5 +3,9 @@
 Nix has a release cycle of roughly 6 weeks.
 Notable changes and additions are announced in the release notes for each version.
 
-Bugfixes can be backported on request to the Nix version used in the latest NixOS release, which is announced in the [NixOS release notes](https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/release-notes.html#ch-release-notes).
+Bugfixes can be backported on request to previous Nix releases.
+We typically backport only as far back as the Nix version used in the latest NixOS release, which is announced in the [NixOS release notes](https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/release-notes.html#ch-release-notes).
+
+Backports never skip releases (if a feature is backported to `x.y`, it must also be available in `x.(y+1)`;
+This ensures that upgrading from an older version with backports is still safe and no backported functionality will go missing.