diff --git a/src/api/built-in-components.md b/src/api/built-in-components.md
index 8f79c04d04..62e75b394f 100644
--- a/src/api/built-in-components.md
+++ b/src/api/built-in-components.md
@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 # Built-In Components
 
+Built-in components can be used directly in templates without needing to be registered.
+
+The `<keep-alive>`, `<transition>`, `<transition-group>`, and `<teleport>` components can all be tree-shaken by bundlers, so that they are only included in the build if they're used. They can also be imported explicitly if you need direct access to the component itself:
+
+```js
+// CDN build of Vue
+const { KeepAlive, Teleport, Transition, TransitionGroup } = Vue
+```
+
+```js
+// ESM build of Vue
+import { KeepAlive, Teleport, Transition, TransitionGroup } from 'vue'
+```
+
+`<component>` and `<slot>` are component-like features of template syntax. They are not true components and they can't be imported like the components shown above. 
+
 ## component
 
 - **Props:**
@@ -10,8 +26,6 @@
 
   A "meta component" for rendering dynamic components. The actual component to render is determined by the `is` prop. An `is` prop as a string could be either an HTML tag name or a Component name.
 
-- **Example:**
-
   ```html
   <!-- a dynamic component controlled by -->
   <!-- the `componentId` property on the vm -->
@@ -27,6 +41,27 @@
   <component :is="href ? 'a' : 'span'"></component>
   ```
 
+  The built-in components `KeepAlive`, `Transition`, `TransitionGroup`, and `Teleport` can all be passed to `is`, but you must register them if you want to pass them by name. For example:
+
+  ```js
+  const { Transition, TransitionGroup } = Vue
+  
+  const Component = {
+    components: {
+      Transition,
+      TransitionGroup
+    },
+    
+    template: `
+      <component :is="isGroup ? 'TransitionGroup' : 'Transition'">
+        ...
+      </component>
+    `
+  }
+  ```
+
+  Registration is not required if you pass the component itself to `is` rather than its name.  
+
 - **See also:** [Dynamic Components](../guide/component-dynamic-async.html)
 
 ## transition
diff --git a/src/guide/render-function.md b/src/guide/render-function.md
index adfd00b9e8..a5a17a7689 100644
--- a/src/guide/render-function.md
+++ b/src/guide/render-function.md
@@ -551,6 +551,22 @@ render () {
 
 [`resolveDirective`](/api/global-api.html#resolvedirective) is the same function that templates use internally to resolve directives by name. That is only necessary if you don't already have direct access to the directive's definition object.
 
+### Built-in Components
+
+[Built-in components](/api/built-in-components.html) such as `<keep-alive>`, `<transition>`, `<transition-group>`, and `<teleport>` are not registered globally by default. This allows bundlers to perform tree-shaking, so that the components are only included in the build if they are used. However, that also means we can't access them using `resolveComponent` or `resolveDynamicComponent`.
+
+Templates have special handling for those components, automatically importing them when they are used. When we're writing our own `render` functions, we need to import them ourselves:
+
+```js
+const { h, KeepAlive, Teleport, Transition, TransitionGroup } = Vue
+
+// ...
+
+render () {
+  return h(Transition, { mode: 'out-in' }, /* ... */)
+}
+```
+
 ## JSX
 
 If we're writing a lot of `render` functions, it might feel painful to write something like this: