diff --git a/doc/build-unix.md b/doc/build-unix.md
index d9bbb350a7a..e499aa9b0f1 100644
--- a/doc/build-unix.md
+++ b/doc/build-unix.md
@@ -46,10 +46,14 @@ Finally, clang (often less resource hungry) can be used instead of gcc, which is
 
 #### Dependency Build Instructions
 
-Build requirements:
+Build requirements for the latest Debian "stable" release, or the latest Ubuntu LTS release:
 
     sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake pkgconf python3
 
+For Debian "oldstable", or earlier Ubuntu LTS releases, you may need to pick a
+later compiler version, according to the [dependencies](/doc/dependencies.md)
+documentation.
+
 Now, you can either build from self-compiled [depends](#dependencies) or install the required dependencies:
 
     sudo apt-get install libevent-dev libboost-dev