diff --git a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
index 60fc8cc6ca..ab0b14541f 100644
--- a/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
+++ b/lib/eal/linux/eal_memory.c
@@ -155,6 +155,11 @@ rte_mem_virt2iova(const void *virtaddr)
 /*
  * For each hugepage in hugepg_tbl, fill the physaddr value. We find
  * it by browsing the /proc/self/pagemap special file.
+ *
+ * NOTE: Unless a kernel component (such as VFIO_NOIOMMU) locks the memory
+ * in place, the kernel may move the memory at any time (kcompactd, autonuma,
+ * etc etc) so one should only rely on this address being a constant in the
+ * general case.
  */
 static int
 find_physaddrs(struct hugepage_file *hugepg_tbl, struct hugepage_info *hpi)