diff --git a/core/jvm/src/main/scala/cats/effect/IOApp.scala b/core/jvm/src/main/scala/cats/effect/IOApp.scala
index 6939dd9f0b..1d9b30a557 100644
--- a/core/jvm/src/main/scala/cats/effect/IOApp.scala
+++ b/core/jvm/src/main/scala/cats/effect/IOApp.scala
@@ -165,6 +165,13 @@ trait IOApp {
    */
   protected def runtimeConfig: unsafe.IORuntimeConfig = unsafe.IORuntimeConfig()
 
+  /**
+   * The [[unsafe.PollingSystem]] used by the [[runtime]] which will evaluate the [[IO]]
+   * produced by `run`. It is very unlikely that users will need to override this method.
+   *
+   * [[unsafe.PollingSystem]] implementors may provide their own flavors of [[IOApp]] that
+   * override this method.
+   */
   protected def pollingSystem: unsafe.PollingSystem =
     unsafe.IORuntime.createDefaultPollingSystem()