diff --git a/indications.c b/indications.c
index 799c1921c4a40b75d0e01aef367b64e8b3859cb4..2d2ca689625cdf9532071d663eb4016142bf220e 100644
--- a/indications.c
+++ b/indications.c
@@ -336,6 +336,16 @@ static struct tone_zone *current_tonezone;
 /* Protect the tone_zones list (highly unlikely that two things would change
  * it at the same time, but still! */
 AST_MUTEX_DEFINE_EXPORTED(tzlock);
+/* XXX note - this is the only instance of AST_MUTEX_DEFINE_EXPORTED()
+ * in the entire asterisk code base, and should be replaced by a static one.
+ * The mutex is declared exported because it is accessed
+ * by other files, namely res/snmp/agent.c and res/res_indications.c.
+ * However there are also unprotected accesses to the list, because
+ * some of the functions below export pointers to the elements, so
+ * the entire mechanism is useless.
+ * This needs to be fixed by providing functions to navigate in the
+ * list, and refcounts to prevent entries from being destroyed.
+ */
 
 /* Set global indication country */
 int ast_set_indication_country(const char *country)