diff --git a/man/dired.texi b/man/dired.texi
index 73aa6c3f6d7..67a861f8af2 100644
--- a/man/dired.texi
+++ b/man/dired.texi
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ the beginning of the line.  This command moves point to the next line,
 so that repeated @kbd{d} commands flag successive files.  A numeric
 argument serves as a repeat count.
 
+@cindex recursive deletion
 @vindex dired-recursive-deletes
   The variable @code{dired-recursive-deletes} controls whether the
 delete command will delete non-empty directories (including their
@@ -511,6 +512,7 @@ this command sets the modification time of the new file to be the same
 as that of the old file.
 
 @vindex dired-recursive-copies
+@cindex recursive copying
 The variable @code{dired-recursive-copies} controls whether
 directories are copied recursively.  The default is to not copy
 recursively, which means that directories cannot be copied.