diff --git a/doc/manpages/account-server.conf.5 b/doc/manpages/account-server.conf.5
index 3a06dbd76b..018ea4f663 100644
--- a/doc/manpages/account-server.conf.5
+++ b/doc/manpages/account-server.conf.5
@@ -386,7 +386,11 @@ Connection timeout to external services. The default is 0.5 seconds.
 .IP \fBdelay_reaping\fR
 Normally, the reaper begins deleting account information for deleted accounts
 immediately; you can set this to delay its work however. The value is in
-seconds. The default is 0.
+seconds. The default is 0.  The sum of this value and the
+container-updater interval should be less than the account-replicator
+reclaim_age. This ensures that once the account-reaper has deleted a
+container there is sufficient time for the container-updater to report to the
+account before the account DB is removed.
 .IP \fBreap_warn_after\fR
 If the account fails to be be reaped due to a persistent error, the
 account reaper will log a message such as:
diff --git a/doc/source/deployment_guide.rst b/doc/source/deployment_guide.rst
index 06c6f9b58f..1049d8f611 100644
--- a/doc/source/deployment_guide.rst
+++ b/doc/source/deployment_guide.rst
@@ -1650,7 +1650,15 @@ delay_reaping       0                Normally, the reaper begins deleting
                                      account information for deleted accounts
                                      immediately; you can set this to delay
                                      its work however. The value is in seconds,
-                                     2592000 = 30 days, for example.
+                                     2592000 = 30 days, for example. The sum of
+                                     this value and the container-updater
+                                     ``interval`` should be less than the
+                                     account-replicator ``reclaim_age``. This
+                                     ensures that once the account-reaper has
+                                     deleted a container there is sufficient
+                                     time for the container-updater to report
+                                     to the account before the account DB is
+                                     removed.
 reap_warn_after     2892000          If the account fails to be be reaped due
                                      to a persistent error, the account reaper
                                      will log a message such as:
diff --git a/etc/account-server.conf-sample b/etc/account-server.conf-sample
index 2be6b851d8..257c56be47 100644
--- a/etc/account-server.conf-sample
+++ b/etc/account-server.conf-sample
@@ -203,7 +203,11 @@ use = egg:swift#recon
 #
 # Normally, the reaper begins deleting account information for deleted accounts
 # immediately; you can set this to delay its work however. The value is in
-# seconds; 2592000 = 30 days for example.
+# seconds; 2592000 = 30 days for example. The sum of this value and the
+# container-updater interval should be less than the account-replicator
+# reclaim_age. This ensures that once the account-reaper has deleted a
+# container there is sufficient time for the container-updater to report to the
+# account before the account DB is removed.
 # delay_reaping = 0
 #
 # If the account fails to be reaped due to a persistent error, the