diff --git a/doc/special_remotes/S3.mdwn b/doc/special_remotes/S3.mdwn
index 138105f1d1..cca8e1ce74 100644
--- a/doc/special_remotes/S3.mdwn
+++ b/doc/special_remotes/S3.mdwn
@@ -76,8 +76,9 @@ the S3 remote.
   only affect subseqent uploads.
 
 * `publicurl` - Configure the URL that is used to download files
-  from the bucket when they are available publically.
-  (This is automatically configured for Amazon S3 and the Internet Archive.)
+  from the bucket. Using this in combination with public=yes allows
+  git-annex to download files from the S3 remote without needing to
+  know the S3 credentials.
 
 * `partsize` - Amazon S3 only accepts uploads up to a certian file size,
   and storing larger files requires a multipart upload process.
diff --git a/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote.mdwn b/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote.mdwn
index ce484adfbd..84f912e549 100644
--- a/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote.mdwn
+++ b/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote.mdwn
@@ -20,8 +20,12 @@ Now, create the remote:
 	# git annex initremote pubs3 type=S3 encryption=none public=yes
 	initremote pubs3 (checking bucket) (creating bucket in US) ok
 
-The public=yes is the crtical part; this lets the public read the contents
-of the bucket. (This feature needs git-annex 5.20150617 or newer.)
+The public=yes makes git-annex set a S3 ACL so the files in the bucket
+are publically readable. For git-annex to be able to download files from
+that bucket without needing your AWS credentials, you then need to tell
+it the url of the bucket. Find that url, and run:
+
+	# git annex enableremote pubs3 publicurl=...
 
 In the above example, no encryption was used, but it will also work
 if you enable encryption=shared. Then files will be encrypted on S3, and
diff --git a/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote/comment_2_f155c3aa054a23df1ab057baaa300a62._comment b/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote/comment_2_f155c3aa054a23df1ab057baaa300a62._comment
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc6d1a0c6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/tips/public_Amazon_S3_remote/comment_2_f155c3aa054a23df1ab057baaa300a62._comment
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+[[!comment format=mdwn
+ username="joey"
+ subject="""comment 2"""
+ date="2018-07-02T16:18:37Z"
+ content="""
+It seems to me that you need to tell git-annex the publicurl to use to
+download files from this S3 remote. That's the url to the top of the S3
+bucket. Run `git annex enableremote publics3 publicurl=...' and push,
+and it should then become available in every clone.
+
+The documentation for publicurl says it's enabled by default when
+public=yes, but AFAICS it's never actually done that. And I'm not sure I
+want to hardcode those urls into git-annex. I've updated the documentation
+instead.
+"""]]