2 files changed, 16 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/doc/man7/OSSL_PROVIDER-default.pod b/doc/man7/OSSL_PROVIDER-default.pod
index 96144e2260..472bff65fd 100644
--- a/doc/man7/OSSL_PROVIDER-default.pod
+++ b/doc/man7/OSSL_PROVIDER-default.pod
@@ -7,8 +7,19 @@ OSSL_PROVIDER-default - OpenSSL default provider
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
 The OpenSSL default provider supplies the majority of OpenSSL's diverse
-algorithm implementations.  It also acts as a fallback when no other
-provider has been loaded.
+algorithm implementations. If an application doesn't specify anything else
+explicitly (e.g. in the application or via config), then this is the
+provider that will be used as fallback: It is loaded automatically the
+first time that an algorithm is fetched from a provider or a function
+acting on providers is called and no other provider has been loaded yet.
+
+If an attempt to load a provider has already been made (whether successful
+or not) then the default provider won't be loaded automatically. Therefore
+if the default provider is to be used in conjunction with other providers
+then it must be loaded explicitly. Automatic loading of the default
+provider only occurs a maximum of once; if the default provider is
+explicitly unloaded then the default provider will not be automatically
+loaded again.
 
 =head2 Properties
 
diff --git a/doc/man7/provider.pod b/doc/man7/provider.pod
index 18a80eff5a..65bbda5063 100644
--- a/doc/man7/provider.pod
+++ b/doc/man7/provider.pod
@@ -196,7 +196,9 @@ This may be NULL to signify the default (global) library context, or a
 context created by the user.
 Only providers loaded in this library context (see
 L<OSSL_PROVIDER_load(3)>) will be considered by the fetching
-function.
+function. In case no provider has been loaded in this library context
+the default provider will be loaded as fallback (see
+L<OSSL_PROVIDER-default(7)>).
 
 =item An identifier