diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 5dca90464a..0b3004d1a8 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -813,8 +813,19 @@ breaking changes, and mappings for the large list of deprecated functions.
 
    *Rich Salz*
 
- * Introduced a new method type and API, OSSL_ENCODER, to
-   represent generic encoders.
+ * Introduced a new method type and API, OSSL_ENCODER, to represent
+   generic encoders.  These do the same sort of job that PEM writers
+   and d2i functions do, but with support for methods supplied by
+   providers, and the possibility for providers to support other
+   formats as well.
+
+   *Richard Levitte*
+
+ * Introduced a new method type and API, OSSL_DECODER, to represent
+   generic decoders.  These do the same sort of job that PEM readers
+   and i2d functions do, but with support for methods supplied by
+   providers, and the possibility for providers to support other
+   formats as well.
 
    *Richard Levitte*
 
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 290671e091..a75c43b4ca 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ OpenSSL 3.0
     BIOs (allowing implicit connections), and timeout checks.
   * Added util/check-format.pl for checking adherence to the coding guidelines.
   * Added OSSL_ENCODER, a generic encoder API.
+  * Added OSSL_DECODER, a generic decoder API.
   * Added OSSL_PARAM_BLD, an easier to use API to OSSL_PARAM.
   * Added error raising macros, ERR_raise() and ERR_raise_data().
   * Deprecated ERR_put_error(), ERR_get_error_line(), ERR_get_error_line_data(),