diff --git a/build/platform-msvc-common.mk b/build/platform-msvc-common.mk
index 8832dadd..0539692a 100644
--- a/build/platform-msvc-common.mk
+++ b/build/platform-msvc-common.mk
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ CC=cl
 CXX=cl
 AR=lib
 CXX_O=-Fo$@
-# -DGTEST_HAS_TR1_TUPLE=0 is temporarily broken in gtest,
-# using _VARIADIC_MAX=10 to fix building on MSVC 2012 meanwhile.
-# Once gtest works with the former again, it should be preferred.
+# -D_VARIADIC_MAX=10 is required to fix building gtest on MSVC 2012, but
+# since we don't (easily) know which version of MSVC we use here, we add
+# it unconditionally. The same issue can also be worked around by adding
+# -DGTEST_HAS_TR1_TUPLE=0 instead, but we prefer this version since it
+# matches what gtest itself does.
 CFLAGS += -nologo -W3 -EHsc -fp:precise -Zc:wchar_t -Zc:forScope -D_VARIADIC_MAX=10
 CXX_LINK_O=-nologo -Fe$@
 AR_OPTS=-nologo -out:$@