diff --git i/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst w/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
index 76567ad..84fcf89 100644
--- i/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
+++ w/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ setup script). Indirectly provides the  :class:`distutils.dist.Distribution` and
    +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
    | *maintainer*       | The name of the current        | a string                                                    |
    |                    | maintainer, if different from  |                                                             |
-   |                    | the author                     |                                                             |
+   |                    | the author. Note, that if      |                                                             |
+   |                    | the maintainer is provided,    |                                                             |
+   |                    | distutils will use it as the   |                                                             |
+   |                    | author in :file:`PKG-INFO`     |                                                             |
    +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
    | *maintainer_email* | The email address of the       | a string                                                    |
    |                    | current maintainer, if         |                                                             |
diff --git i/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst w/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
index 165bfcd..185f27e 100644
--- i/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
+++ w/Doc/distutils/setupscript.rst
@@ -598,7 +598,9 @@ Notes:
     It is recommended that versions take the form *major.minor[.patch[.sub]]*.
 
 (3)
-    Either the author or the maintainer must be identified.
+    Either the author or the maintainer must be identified. If
+    ``maintainer`` is provided, the distutils lists it as the
+    author in :file:`PKG-INFO`.
 
 (4)
     These fields should not be used if your package is to be compatible with Python