diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/README.txt b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/README.txt
index df49f9b39e..d3f6401344 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/README.txt
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/README.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Building full schema dumps
 ==========================
 
+These schemas need to be made from a database that has had all background updates run.
+
 Postgres
 --------
 
@@ -11,4 +13,7 @@ SQLite
 
 $ sqlite3 $DATABASE_FILE ".schema" > full.sql.sqlite
 
+After
+-----
+
 Delete the CREATE statements for "sqlite_stat1", "schema_version", "applied_schema_deltas", and "applied_module_schemas".
\ No newline at end of file