diff --git a/documentation/content/en/books/handbook/ports/_index.adoc b/documentation/content/en/books/handbook/ports/_index.adoc
--- a/documentation/content/en/books/handbook/ports/_index.adoc
+++ b/documentation/content/en/books/handbook/ports/_index.adoc
@@ -670,6 +670,13 @@
 This utility connects to a FreeBSD site, verifies the secure key, and downloads a new copy of the Ports Collection.
 The key is used to verify the integrity of all downloaded files.
 
+Note that Portsnap updates are generated from a snapshot of the main
+branch of the Ports Collection and cannot be configured to use a
+different branch (for example, `quarterly`).
+If it is necessary to use a different branch of the Ports Collection
+(for instance as referenced earlier in conjunction with binary
+packages), then the <<ports-using-git-method,Git method>> must be used.
+
 . To download a compressed snapshot of the Ports Collection into [.filename]#/var/db/portsnap#:
 +
 [source,shell]