diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1bb36c267dd..9e5eb0d1c72 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4831,6 +4831,8 @@ if(gRPC_INSTALL)
 endif()
 
 
+# grpcpp_channelz doesn't build with protobuf-lite
+# See https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/19473
 if(gRPC_BUILD_CODEGEN AND NOT gRPC_USE_PROTO_LITE)
 add_library(grpcpp_channelz
   src/cpp/server/channelz/channelz_service.cc
diff --git a/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template b/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
index 0e064c51409..281c2522668 100644
--- a/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
+++ b/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
@@ -439,6 +439,8 @@
   <%def name="cc_library(lib)">
   % if any(proto_re.match(src) for src in lib.src):
   % if lib.name == 'grpcpp_channelz':
+  # grpcpp_channelz doesn't build with protobuf-lite
+  # See https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/19473
   if(gRPC_BUILD_CODEGEN AND NOT gRPC_USE_PROTO_LITE)
   % else:
   if(gRPC_BUILD_CODEGEN)