diff --git a/Include/pystate.h b/Include/pystate.h
index 1ff26268521..bfd3548fe2d 100644
--- a/Include/pystate.h
+++ b/Include/pystate.h
@@ -53,12 +53,16 @@ typedef int (*Py_tracefunc)(PyObject *, struct _frame *, int, PyObject *);
 #define PyTrace_C_RETURN 6
 
 typedef struct _ts {
+    /* See Python/ceval.c for comments explaining most fields */
 
     struct _ts *next;
     PyInterpreterState *interp;
 
     struct _frame *frame;
     int recursion_depth;
+    /* 'tracing' keeps track of the execution depth when tracing/profiling.
+       This is to prevent the actual trace/profile code from being recorded in
+       the trace/profile. */
     int tracing;
     int use_tracing;
 
@@ -75,7 +79,7 @@ typedef struct _ts {
     PyObject *exc_value;
     PyObject *exc_traceback;
 
-    PyObject *dict;
+    PyObject *dict;  /* Stores per-thread state */
 
     /* tick_counter is incremented whenever the check_interval ticker
      * reaches zero. The purpose is to give a useful measure of the number
diff --git a/Python/ceval.c b/Python/ceval.c
index 459fd0d0b19..972061d0d6e 100644
--- a/Python/ceval.c
+++ b/Python/ceval.c
@@ -3284,10 +3284,12 @@ PyEval_SetProfile(Py_tracefunc func, PyObject *arg)
 	Py_XINCREF(arg);
 	tstate->c_profilefunc = NULL;
 	tstate->c_profileobj = NULL;
+	/* Must make sure that tracing is not ignored if 'temp' is freed */
 	tstate->use_tracing = tstate->c_tracefunc != NULL;
 	Py_XDECREF(temp);
 	tstate->c_profilefunc = func;
 	tstate->c_profileobj = arg;
+	/* Flag that tracing or profiling is turned on */
 	tstate->use_tracing = (func != NULL) || (tstate->c_tracefunc != NULL);
 }
 
@@ -3299,10 +3301,12 @@ PyEval_SetTrace(Py_tracefunc func, PyObject *arg)
 	Py_XINCREF(arg);
 	tstate->c_tracefunc = NULL;
 	tstate->c_traceobj = NULL;
+	/* Must make sure that profiling is not ignored if 'temp' is freed */
 	tstate->use_tracing = tstate->c_profilefunc != NULL;
 	Py_XDECREF(temp);
 	tstate->c_tracefunc = func;
 	tstate->c_traceobj = arg;
+	/* Flag that tracing or profiling is turned on */
 	tstate->use_tracing = ((func != NULL)
 			       || (tstate->c_profilefunc != NULL));
 }