diff --git a/Doc/library/packaging.compiler.rst b/Doc/library/packaging.compiler.rst
index d771972..89b6e45 100644
--- a/Doc/library/packaging.compiler.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/packaging.compiler.rst
@@ -675,3 +675,7 @@
    |                        | abort the build process, but   |                           |
    |                        | simply skip the extension.     |                           |
    +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+
+To distribute extension modules that live in a package (e.g. ``package.ext``),
+you need to create you need to create a :file:`{package}/__init__.py` file to
+let Python recognize and import your module.
diff --git a/Doc/packaging/setupscript.rst b/Doc/packaging/setupscript.rst
index dbac3dd..cafde20 100644
--- a/Doc/packaging/setupscript.rst
+++ b/Doc/packaging/setupscript.rst
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@
 in the filesystem (and therefore where in Python's namespace hierarchy) the
 resulting extension lives.
 
+If your distribution contains only one or more extension modules in a package,
+you need to create a :file:`{package}/__init__.py` file anyway, otherwise Python
+won't be able to import anything.
+
 If you have a number of extensions all in the same package (or all under the
 same base package), use the :option:`ext_package` keyword argument to
 :func:`setup`.  For example, ::