diff --git a/docs/system/quickstart.rst b/docs/system/quickstart.rst
index 3a3acab5e74940618607c9c39f0bdb36ad4ca52d..681678c86e3ab518db074be378e93ebc66c3efde 100644
--- a/docs/system/quickstart.rst
+++ b/docs/system/quickstart.rst
@@ -11,3 +11,11 @@ Download and uncompress a PC hard disk image with Linux installed (e.g.
    |qemu_system| linux.img
 
 Linux should boot and give you a prompt.
+
+Users should be aware the above example elides a lot of the complexity
+of setting up a VM with x86_64 specific defaults and assumes the
+first non switch argument is a PC compatible disk image with a boot
+sector. For a non-x86 system where we emulate a broad range of machine
+types, the command lines are generally more explicit in defining the
+machine and boot behaviour. You will find more example command lines
+in the :ref:`system-targets-ref` section of the manual.
diff --git a/docs/system/targets.rst b/docs/system/targets.rst
index 75ed1087fd407e569eb702dd31c2d02f24a120ee..9dcd95dd8421069077d25294bfec070b10fd646d 100644
--- a/docs/system/targets.rst
+++ b/docs/system/targets.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _system-targets-ref:
+
 QEMU System Emulator Targets
 ============================