diff --git a/README b/README
index ad8a161b1..5b2fac94f 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -273,9 +273,8 @@ For further documentation, see the `pandoc(1)` man page.
     LaTeX *commands*, even if `-R` is not specified.)
 
 `-C` or `--custom-header` *filename*
-:   can be used to specify a custom document header. To see the headers
-    used by default, use the `-D` option: for example, `pandoc -D html`
-    prints the default HTML header.  Implies `--standalone`.
+:   can be used to specify a custom document header. Implies `--standalone`.
+    *Note: this option is deprecated. Use of `--template` is preferred.*
 
 `--toc` or `--table-of-contents`
 :   includes an automatically generated table of contents (or, in the
@@ -479,7 +478,7 @@ When the `-s/--standalone` option is used, pandoc uses a template to
 add header and footer material that is needed for a self-standing
 document.  To see the default template that is used, just type
 
-    pandoc --print-default-template=FORMAT
+    pandoc -D FORMAT
 
 where `FORMAT` is the name of the output format. A custom template
 can be specified using the `--template` option.  You can also override
@@ -532,7 +531,7 @@ templates.
 Templates may contain conditionals.  The syntax is as follows:
 
     $if(variable)$
-    X 
+    X
     $else$
     Y
     $endif$
@@ -1173,22 +1172,6 @@ LaTeX, not as markdown.
 Inline LaTeX is ignored in output formats other than Markdown, LaTeX,
 and ConTeXt.
 
-Custom headers
-==============
-
-When run with the "standalone" option (`-s`), `pandoc` creates a
-standalone file, complete with an appropriate header.  To see the
-default headers used for html and latex, use the following commands:
-
-	pandoc -D html
-
-	pandoc -D latex 
-
-If you want to use a different header, just create a file containing
-it and specify it on the command line as follows:
-
-	pandoc --custom-header=MyHeaderFile
-
 Producing S5 with Pandoc
 ========================
 
diff --git a/man/man1/markdown2pdf.1.md b/man/man1/markdown2pdf.1.md
index 9e5ee3f79..c54c6af35 100644
--- a/man/man1/markdown2pdf.1.md
+++ b/man/man1/markdown2pdf.1.md
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ The following options are most relevant:
 \--template=*FILE*
 :   Use *FILE* as a custom template for the generated document. Implies
     `-s`. See the section TEMPLATES in `pandoc`(1) for information about
-    template syntax.
+    template syntax.  Use `pandoc -D latex` to print the default LaTeX
+    template.
 
 -V KEY=VAL, \--variable=*KEY:VAL*
 :   Set the template variable KEY to the value VAL when rendering the
@@ -75,9 +76,8 @@ The following options are most relevant:
 :   Include (LaTeX) contents of *FILE* at the end of the document body.
 
 -C *FILE*, \--custom-header=*FILE*
-:   Use contents of *FILE*
-    as the LaTeX document header (overriding the default header, which can be
-    printed using `pandoc -D latex`).  Implies `-s`.
+:   Use contents of *FILE* as the document header. *Note: This option is
+    deprecated. Users should transition to using `--template` instead.*
 
 # SEE ALSO
 
diff --git a/man/man1/pandoc.1.md b/man/man1/pandoc.1.md
index 59b50fbd5..2fb988ab4 100644
--- a/man/man1/pandoc.1.md
+++ b/man/man1/pandoc.1.md
@@ -198,10 +198,8 @@ to Pandoc.  Or use `html2markdown`(1), a wrapper around `pandoc`.
 :   Include contents of *FILE* at the end of the document body.
 
 -C *FILE*, \--custom-header=*FILE*
-:   Use contents of *FILE* as the document header (overriding the
-    default header, which can be printed by using the `-D` option).
-    Implies `-s`. Note: This option is deprecated. Users should
-    transition to using `--template` instead.
+:   Use contents of *FILE* as the document header. *Note: This option is
+    deprecated. Users should transition to using `--template` instead.*
 
 \--reference-odt=*filename*
 :   Use the specified file as a style reference in producing an ODT.