diff --git a/doc/contributing/building-node-with-ninja.md b/doc/contributing/building-node-with-ninja.md
index ddb1fc74d4a..dbac1c53634 100644
--- a/doc/contributing/building-node-with-ninja.md
+++ b/doc/contributing/building-node-with-ninja.md
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ make -j4 # With this flag, Ninja will limit itself to 4 parallel jobs,
          # regardless of the number of cores on the current machine.
 ```
 
+Note: if you are on macOS and use GNU Make version `3.x`, the `-jn` flag
+will not work. You can either upgrade to `v4.x` (e.g. using a package manager
+such as [Homebrew](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/make#default)) or use `make JOBS=n`.
+
 ## Producing a debug build
 
 To create a debug build rather than a release build: