diff --git a/doc/install/fromsource.mdwn b/doc/install/fromsource.mdwn
index baa4e1b06e..98a517b14a 100644
--- a/doc/install/fromsource.mdwn
+++ b/doc/install/fromsource.mdwn
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ First, install everything git-annex needs to build:
 
 	sudo apt-get build-dep git-annex
 
-Now you can build git-annex using either `make` or `cabal build`.
+Now you can build git-annex by running either `make` or `cabal build`
+inside the source tree.
 
 ## minimal build with cabal
 
@@ -39,24 +40,29 @@ This can be done anywhere, and builds git-annex without some features that
 require C libraries, that can be harder to get installed. This is plenty to
 get started using it, although it does not include the assistant or webapp.
 
-Be warned that this involves building a lot of Haskell libraries from
-source, and so it has a lot of moving parts, and it's not uncommon for it
-to be broken from time to time.
+Inside the source tree, run:
 
 	cabal configure -f"-assistant -webapp -webdav -pairing -xmpp -dns"
+	cabal install --only-dependencies
 	cabal build
 	PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH
 	cabal install --bindir=$HOME/bin
 
+Be warned that this involves building a lot of Haskell libraries from
+source, and so it has a lot of moving parts, and it's not uncommon for it
+to be broken from time to time.
+
 ## full build with cabal
 
 To build with all features enabled, including the assistant and webapp,
 you will need to install several C libraries and their headers,
 including libgnutls, libgsasl, libxml2, and zlib. How to do that for
-your OS is beyond the scope of this page. Once the C libraries are
-installed:
+your OS is beyond the scope of this page. 
+
+Once the C libraries are installed, run inside the source tree:
 
 	cabal configure
+	cabal install --only-dependencies
 	cabal build
 	PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH
 	cabal install --bindir=$HOME/bin