diff --git a/include/mbedtls/threading.h b/include/mbedtls/threading.h
index a8183a6ef..45161ce46 100644
--- a/include/mbedtls/threading.h
+++ b/include/mbedtls/threading.h
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ extern "C" {
 typedef struct mbedtls_threading_mutex_t
 {
     pthread_mutex_t mutex;
+    /* is_valid is 0 after a failed init or a free, and nonzero after a
+     * successful init. This field is not considered part of the public
+     * API of Mbed TLS and may change without notice. */
     char is_valid;
 } mbedtls_threading_mutex_t;
 #endif
diff --git a/library/threading.c b/library/threading.c
index f4f29cff5..0dc5488c1 100644
--- a/library/threading.c
+++ b/library/threading.c
@@ -98,6 +98,12 @@ static void threading_mutex_init_pthread( mbedtls_threading_mutex_t *mutex )
     if( mutex == NULL )
         return;
 
+    /* A nonzero value of is_valid indicates a successfully initialized
+     * mutex. This is a workaround for not being able to return an error
+     * code for this function. The lock/unlock functions return an error
+     * if is_valid is nonzero. The Mbed TLS unit test code uses this field
+     * to distinguish more states of the mutex; see helpers.function for
+     * details. */
     mutex->is_valid = pthread_mutex_init( &mutex->mutex, NULL ) == 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/suites/helpers.function b/tests/suites/helpers.function
index 1d48b2023..0bf81895a 100644
--- a/tests/suites/helpers.function
+++ b/tests/suites/helpers.function
@@ -834,8 +834,13 @@ int mbedtls_test_hexcmp( uint8_t * a, uint8_t * b, uint32_t a_len, uint32_t b_le
  * indicate the exact location of the problematic call. To locate the error,
  * use a debugger and set a breakpoint on mbedtls_test_mutex_usage_error().
  */
-enum value_of_mutex_is_valid
+enum value_of_mutex_is_valid_field
 {
+    /* Potential values for the is_valid field of mbedtls_threading_mutex_t.
+     * Note that MUTEX_FREED must be 0 and MUTEX_IDLE must be 1 for
+     * compatibility with threading_mutex_init_pthread() and
+     * threading_mutex_free_pthread(). MUTEX_LOCKED could be any nonzero
+     * value. */
     MUTEX_FREED = 0, //!< Set by threading_mutex_free_pthread
     MUTEX_IDLE = 1, //!< Set by threading_mutex_init_pthread and by our unlock
     MUTEX_LOCKED = 2, //!< Set by our lock