diff --git a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
index 106cc52df59..1381afc652d 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ setup script). Indirectly provides the  :class:`distutils.dist.Distribution` and
    +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
    | *maintainer*       | The name of the current        | a string                                                    |
    |                    | maintainer, if different from  |                                                             |
-   |                    | the author                     |                                                             |
+   |                    | the author. Note that if       |                                                             |
+   |                    | the maintainer is provided,    |                                                             |
+   |                    | distutils will use it as the   |                                                             |
+   |                    | author in :file:`PKG-INFO`     |                                                             |
    +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
    | *maintainer_email* | The email address of the       | a string                                                    |
    |                    | current maintainer, if         |                                                             |
diff --git a/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst b/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
index 80292432a9c..ba7810715de 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
@@ -601,7 +601,8 @@ Notes:
     It is recommended that versions take the form *major.minor[.patch[.sub]]*.
 
 (3)
-    Either the author or the maintainer must be identified.
+    Either the author or the maintainer must be identified. If maintainer is
+    provided, distutils lists it as the author in :file:`PKG-INFO`.
 
 (4)
     These fields should not be used if your package is to be compatible with Python
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 69314c34f5f..4a41ab2a164 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -1012,6 +1012,9 @@ Build
 Documentation
 -------------
 
+- Issue #16403: Document how distutils uses the maintainer field in
+  PKG-INFO. Patch by Jyrki Pulliainen.
+
 - Issue #16695: Document how glob handles filenames starting with a
   dot. Initial patch by Jyrki Pulliainen.