diff --git a/docs/plugins/convert.rst b/docs/plugins/convert.rst
index 59670c269..f80d10233 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/convert.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/convert.rst
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ To convert a part of your collection, run ``beet convert QUERY``. The
 command will transcode all the files matching the query to the
 destination directory given by the ``-d`` (``--dest``) option or the
 ``dest`` configuration. The path layout mirrors that of your library,
-but it may be customized through the ``paths`` configuration.
+but it may be customized through the ``paths`` configuration. Files
+that have been previously converted — and thus already exist in the
+destination directory — will be skipped.
 
 The plugin uses a command-line program to transcode the audio. With the
 ``-f`` (``--format``) option you can choose the transcoding command