diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
index 6ca635ce06e..65965fa1bd0 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
@@ -62,18 +62,23 @@ echo "deb https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/{major-version}/apt stable main"
 endif::[]
 
 
-[WARNING]
+[NOTE]
 ==================================================
 
-Do not use `add-apt-repository` as it will add a `deb-src` entry as well, but
-we do not provide a source package. If you have added the `deb-src` entry, you
-will see an error like the following:
+These instructions do not use `add-apt-repository` for several reasons:
+
+. `add-apt-repository` adds entries to the system `/etc/apt/sources.list` file
+  rather than a clean per-repository file in `/etc/apt/sources.list.d`
+. `add-apt-repository` is not part of the default install on many distributions
+  and requires a number of non-default dependencies.
+. Older versions of `add-apt-repository` always add a `deb-src` entry which
+  will cause errors because we do not provide a source package. If you have added
+  the `deb-src` entry, you will see an error like the following until you delete
+  the `deb-src` line:
 
     Unable to find expected entry 'main/source/Sources' in Release file
     (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)
 
-Delete the `deb-src` entry from the `/etc/apt/sources.list` file and the
-installation should work as expected.
 ==================================================
 
 You can install the Elasticsearch Debian package with: