diff --git a/deepspeed/runtime/engine.py b/deepspeed/runtime/engine.py
index b7d464252dc1..716f73d3b469 100755
--- a/deepspeed/runtime/engine.py
+++ b/deepspeed/runtime/engine.py
@@ -1471,6 +1471,11 @@ def save_checkpoint(self, save_dir, tag=None, client_state={}, save_latest=True)
                 used if not provided. Tag name must be the same across all ranks.
             client_state: Optional. State dictionary used for saving required training states in the client code.
             save_latest: Optional. Save a file 'latest' pointing to the latest saved checkpoint.
+
+        Important: all processes must call this method and not just the process with rank 0. It is
+        because each process needs to save its master weights and scheduler+optimizer states. This
+        method will hang waiting to synchronize with other processes if it's called just for the
+        process with rank 0.
         """
 
         # This is to make sure the checkpoint names are created without collision
diff --git a/docs/_tutorials/getting-started.md b/docs/_tutorials/getting-started.md
index 5c53f2084f3c..37f104f0739e 100644
--- a/docs/_tutorials/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/_tutorials/getting-started.md
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ accepts a client state dictionary `client_sd` for saving. These items can be
 retrieved from `load_checkpoint` as a return argument. In the example above,
 the `step` value is stored as part of the `client_sd`.
 
+Important: all processes must call this method and not just the process with rank 0. It is because
+each process needs to save its master weights and scheduler+optimizer states. This method will hang
+waiting to synchronize with other processes if it's called just for the process with rank 0.
 
 ## DeepSpeed Configuration
 DeepSpeed features can be enabled, disabled, or configured using a config JSON