diff --git a/bob/bio/base/database/database.py b/bob/bio/base/database/database.py
index c437ff16740df0418d09c0739ac322bc748fa5fc..01ec10908db4fbf00e70c88ab02304995e1de111 100644
--- a/bob/bio/base/database/database.py
+++ b/bob/bio/base/database/database.py
@@ -331,7 +331,8 @@ class BioDatabase(six.with_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta, bob.db.base.Database)):
     def annotations(self, file):
         """
         Returns the annotations for the given File object, if available.
-        It uses `bob.db.base.read_annotation_file` to load the annotations.
+        You need to override this method in your high-level implementation.
+        If your database does not have annotations, it should return ``None``.
 
         **Parameters:**