diff --git a/clang/docs/ClangPlugins.rst b/clang/docs/ClangPlugins.rst
--- a/clang/docs/ClangPlugins.rst
+++ b/clang/docs/ClangPlugins.rst
@@ -200,3 +200,11 @@
   PluginASTAction::ActionType getActionType() override {
     return AddAfterMainAction;
   }
+
+If the main AST action is codegen, having any plugins that run after the
+codegen action automatically turns off ``-clear-ast-before-backend``, which
+saves peak memory by clearing the Clang AST after generating IR and before
+running IR optimizations. Use ``CmdlineBeforeMainAction`` or
+``AddBeforeMainAction`` as ``getActionType`` to run plugins before the codegen
+action and still have access to peak memory savings from
+``-clear-ast-before-backend``.