diff --git a/usr.bin/lam/lam.1 b/usr.bin/lam/lam.1
index a8925d9256ba..b89211c41e17 100644
--- a/usr.bin/lam/lam.1
+++ b/usr.bin/lam/lam.1
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$NetBSD: lam.1,v 1.12 2020/10/26 03:46:57 dholland Exp $
+.\"	$NetBSD: lam.1,v 1.13 2020/10/26 03:51:54 dholland Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 1993
 .\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ lam file1 \-S "
 " file2 file3 file4
 .Ed
 .Pp
+(with a literal newline; the means for inserting one may depend on
+your shell.)
+.Pp
 Every 2 lines of a file may be joined on one line with
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 lam \- \- < file