diff --git a/doc/man3/Makefile.am b/doc/man3/Makefile.am
index a60ac1fbe1b5..f7a56e634f36 100644
--- a/doc/man3/Makefile.am
+++ b/doc/man3/Makefile.am
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ MAN3_FILES_SECONDARY = \
 	flux_kvs_lookup_get.3 \
 	flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack.3 \
 	flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw.3 \
+	flux_kvs_lookup_get_dir.3 \
 	flux_kvs_fence.3 \
 	flux_kvs_txn_destroy.3 \
 	flux_kvs_txn_put.3 \
@@ -236,6 +237,7 @@ flux_kvs_lookupat.3: flux_kvs_lookup.3
 flux_kvs_lookup_get.3: flux_kvs_lookup.3
 flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack.3: flux_kvs_lookup.3
 flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw.3: flux_kvs_lookup.3
+flux_kvs_lookup_get_dir.3: flux_kvs_lookup.3
 flux_kvs_fence.3: flux_kvs_commit.3
 flux_kvs_txn_destroy.3: flux_kvs_txn_create.3
 flux_kvs_txn_put.3: flux_kvs_txn_create.3
diff --git a/doc/man3/flux_kvs_lookup.adoc b/doc/man3/flux_kvs_lookup.adoc
index 51b1090235a6..9194fe7fc97a 100644
--- a/doc/man3/flux_kvs_lookup.adoc
+++ b/doc/man3/flux_kvs_lookup.adoc
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ flux_kvs_lookup(3)
 
 NAME
 ----
-flux_kvs_lookup, flux_kvs_lookupat, flux_kvs_lookup_get, flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack, flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw - look up KVS key
+flux_kvs_lookup, flux_kvs_lookupat, flux_kvs_lookup_get, flux_kvs_lookup_get_unpack, flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw, flux_kvs_lookup_get_dir - look up KVS key
 
 
 SYNOPSIS
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
  int flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw (flux_future_t *f, const void **data, int *len);
 
+ int flux_kvs_lookup_get_dir (flux_future_t *f, const flux_kvsdir_t **dir);
+
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -53,6 +55,9 @@ the returned JSON is parsed according to variable arguments in Jansson
 `flux_kvs_lookup_get_raw()` is identical to `flux_kvs_lookup_get()` except
 the raw value is returned without decoding.
 
+`flux_kvs_lookup_get_dir()` is identical to `flux_kvs_lookup_get()` except
+a directory object is returned.
+
 These functions may be used asynchronously.
 See `flux_future_then(3)` for details.
 
diff --git a/doc/test/spell.en.pws b/doc/test/spell.en.pws
index da5bab420831..4bc19a031a34 100644
--- a/doc/test/spell.en.pws
+++ b/doc/test/spell.en.pws
@@ -400,3 +400,4 @@ symlink
 nprocs
 procs
 txn
+kvsdir