diff --git oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/SegmentNodeState.java oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/SegmentNodeState.java
index d51fd6afeb..4916254eab 100644
--- oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/SegmentNodeState.java
+++ oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/SegmentNodeState.java
@@ -621,7 +621,21 @@ public class SegmentNodeState extends Record implements NodeState {
     }
 
     //------------------------------------------------------------< Object >--
-
+    
+    /**
+     * Indicates whether two {@link NodeState} instances are "equal to" each
+     * other. A return value of {@code true} clearly means that the instances
+     * are equal, while a return value of {@code false} doesn't necessarily mean
+     * the instances are not equal. These "false negatives" are an
+     * implementation detail and callers cannot rely on them being stable.
+     * 
+     * @param a
+     *            the first {@link NodeState} instance
+     * @param b
+     *            the second {@link NodeState} instance
+     * @return {@code true}, if these two instances are "equal"; {@code false}
+     *         otherwise.
+     */
     public static boolean fastEquals(NodeState a, NodeState b) {
         if (Record.fastEquals(a, b)) {
             return true;
diff --git oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/scheduler/Commit.java oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/scheduler/Commit.java
index 2064279bd3..15aca92dbb 100644
--- oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/scheduler/Commit.java
+++ oak-segment-tar/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/segment/scheduler/Commit.java
@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ public class Commit {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Checks if the commit contains any changes.
+     * Checks if the commit contains any changes. This is a shallow check, with
+     * the same semantics as
+     * {@link SegmentNodeState#fastEquals(NodeState, NodeState)}, which cannot
+     * guarantee against false negatives.
      * 
      * @return {@code true}, if the commit has changes, {@code false},
      *         otherwise.