diff --git a/man/less-variables.xml b/man/less-variables.xml
index 0fb4d7fbcf..1f34cbc1bf 100644
--- a/man/less-variables.xml
+++ b/man/less-variables.xml
@@ -3,27 +3,34 @@
                  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
 
 <refsect1>
-        <title>Environment</title>
+  <title>Environment</title>
 
-        <variablelist class='environment-variables'>
-                <varlistentry id='pager'>
-                        <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_PAGER</varname></term>
+  <variablelist class='environment-variables'>
+    <varlistentry id='pager'>
+      <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_PAGER</varname></term>
 
-                        <listitem><para>Pager to use when
-                        <option>--no-pager</option> is not given;
-                        overrides <varname>$PAGER</varname>.  Setting
-                        this to an empty string or the value
-                        <literal>cat</literal> is equivalent to passing
-                        <option>--no-pager</option>.</para></listitem>
-                </varlistentry>
+      <listitem><para>Pager to use when <option>--no-pager</option> is not given; overrides
+      <varname>$PAGER</varname>. If neither <varname>$SYSTEMD_PAGER</varname> nor <varname>$PAGER</varname> are set, a
+      set of well-known pager implementations are tried in turn, including
+      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>less</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> and
+      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>more</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, until one is found. If
+      no pager implementation is discovered no pager is invoked. Setting this environment variable to an empty string
+      or the value <literal>cat</literal> is equivalent to passing <option>--no-pager</option>.</para></listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
 
-                <varlistentry id='less'>
-                        <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LESS</varname></term>
+    <varlistentry id='less'>
+      <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LESS</varname></term>
 
-                        <listitem><para>Override the default
-                        options passed to
-                        <command>less</command>
-                        (<literal>FRSXMK</literal>).</para></listitem>
-                </varlistentry>
-        </variablelist>
+      <listitem><para>Override the options passed to <command>less</command> (by default
+      <literal>FRSXMK</literal>).</para></listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+
+    <varlistentry id='lesscharset'>
+      <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LESSCHARSET</varname></term>
+
+      <listitem><para>Override the charset passed to <command>less</command> (by default <literal>utf-8</literal>, if
+      the invoking terminal is determined to be UTF-8 compatible).</para></listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+
+    </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
diff --git a/man/systemctl.xml b/man/systemctl.xml
index e738b5aecd..cd1f3f976f 100644
--- a/man/systemctl.xml
+++ b/man/systemctl.xml
@@ -1817,6 +1817,7 @@ kobject-uevent 1 systemd-udevd-kernel.socket systemd-udevd.service
     </variablelist>
     <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="pager"/>
     <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="less"/>
+    <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="lesscharset"/>
   </refsect1>
 
   <refsect1>