diff --git a/docs/deploying.rst b/docs/deploying.rst
index 47dff73d..44ddd07b 100644
--- a/docs/deploying.rst
+++ b/docs/deploying.rst
@@ -65,7 +65,11 @@ You can start the Datasette process running using the following::
     sudo systemctl daemon-reload
     sudo systemctl start datasette.service
 
-You can confirm that Datasette is running on port 8000 like so::
+You may need to restart the Datasette service after making changes to its ``metadata.json`` configuration or the ``datasette.service`` file. You can do that using::
+
+    sudo systemctl restart datasette.service
+
+Once the service has started you can confirm that Datasette is running on port 8000 like so::
 
     curl 127.0.0.1:8000/-/versions.json
     # Should output JSON showing the installed version