diff --git a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
index 628e9b9db..fcd763a9d 100644
--- a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@ StorePath BinaryCacheStore::addToStoreFromDump(Source & dump, std::string_view n
                 },
                 .references = {
                     .others = references,
+                    // caller is not capable of creating a self-reference, because this is content-addressed without modulus
                     .self = false,
                 },
             },
@@ -433,6 +434,7 @@ StorePath BinaryCacheStore::addToStore(
                 },
                 .references = {
                     .others = references,
+                    // caller is not capable of creating a self-reference, because this is content-addressed without modulus
                     .self = false,
                 },
             },
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index 0072a16dc..7fb312c37 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -1328,6 +1328,7 @@ StorePath LocalStore::addToStoreFromDump(Source & source0, std::string_view name
         },
         .references = {
             .others = references,
+            // caller is not capable of creating a self-reference, because this is content-addressed without modulus
             .self = false,
         },
     };
diff --git a/src/nix/profile.cc b/src/nix/profile.cc
index 5aa87a313..fd63b3519 100644
--- a/src/nix/profile.cc
+++ b/src/nix/profile.cc
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ struct ProfileManifest
                 },
                 .references = {
                     .others = std::move(references),
+                    // profiles never refer to themselves
                     .self = false,
                 },
             },