diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/layer.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/layer.rs
index 9929a39056..49d6e57834 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/layer.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/storage_layer/layer.rs
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ impl LayerInner {
                 self.spawn_download_and_wait(timeline).await?;
             } else {
                 // the file is present locally, probably by a previous but cancelled call to
-                // get_or_maybe_download.
+                // get_or_maybe_download. alternatively we might be running without remote storage.
             }
 
             let res = Arc::new(DownloadedLayer {