diff --git a/django/utils/crypto.py b/django/utils/crypto.py
index 94f717bb17..5d0f381ffa 100644
--- a/django/utils/crypto.py
+++ b/django/utils/crypto.py
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ def constant_time_compare(val1, val2):
     Returns True if the two strings are equal, False otherwise.
 
     The time taken is independent of the number of characters that match.
+
+    For the sake of simplicity, this function executes in constant time only
+    when the two strings have the same length. It short-circuits when they
+    have different lengths. Since Django only uses it to compare hashes of
+    known expected length, this is acceptable.
     """
     if len(val1) != len(val2):
         return False