diff --git a/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/debian.txt b/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/debian.txt
index 8041435c58d..ecb038604a3 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/debian.txt
+++ b/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/debian.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ texlive-xetex
 # to generate pdf documentation
 latexmk
 # to convert Jupyter notebooks to pdf
-pandoc
+# pandoc -- this is a separate script package
 # to render text with LaTeX in Matplotlib
 dvipng
 # to run the Jmol 3D viewer from the console and generate images for 3D plots in the documentation
diff --git a/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/homebrew.txt b/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/homebrew.txt
index d79dfff3876..35999b380cd 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/homebrew.txt
+++ b/build/pkgs/_recommended/distros/homebrew.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # To convert Jupyter notebooks to pdf:
-pandoc
+# pandoc -- this is a separate script package
 # To produce animations:
 ffmpeg
 imagemagick
diff --git a/src/doc/bootstrap b/src/doc/bootstrap
index c811625b651..2f59033b73a 100755
--- a/src/doc/bootstrap
+++ b/src/doc/bootstrap
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ for SYSTEM in arch debian fedora cygwin homebrew; do
                        *:standard)
                            SYSTEM_PACKAGES+=" $PKG_SYSTEM_PACKAGES"
                            ;;
-                       _recommended:optional)
+                       _recommended:*|pandoc:*)
                            RECOMMENDED_SYSTEM_PACKAGES+=" $PKG_SYSTEM_PACKAGES"
                            ;;
                        *)