diff --git a/doc/source/contributor/index.rst b/doc/source/contributor/index.rst
index c6fc17e111d0..bfde9036acbd 100644
--- a/doc/source/contributor/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/contributor/index.rst
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ changes done to the API, as the impact can be very wide.
 Nova Major Subsystems
 =====================
 
-Major subsystems in nova have different needs; some of those are documented
-here. If you are contributing to one of these please read the subsystem guide
-before diving in.
-
-* :doc:`/user/conductor`
+Major subsystems in nova have different needs. If you are contributing to one
+of these please read the :ref:`reference guide <reference-internals>` before
+diving in.
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index a084191fb308..2e6f41c5c458 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ looking parts of our architecture. These are collected below.
    contributor/project-scope
    contributor/ptl-guide
    reference/api-microversion-history.rst
+   reference/conductor
    reference/gmr
    reference/i18n
    reference/live-migration
@@ -245,7 +246,6 @@ looking parts of our architecture. These are collected below.
    user/cells
    user/cellsv2-layout
    user/certificate-validation
-   user/conductor
    user/feature-classification
    user/filter-scheduler
    user/flavors
diff --git a/doc/source/user/conductor.rst b/doc/source/reference/conductor.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from doc/source/user/conductor.rst
rename to doc/source/reference/conductor.rst
diff --git a/doc/source/reference/index.rst b/doc/source/reference/index.rst
index 6731b8c069f0..47cdda653017 100644
--- a/doc/source/reference/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/reference/index.rst
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ The nova project is large, and there are lots of complicated parts in it where
 it helps to have an overview to understand how the internals of a particular
 part work.
 
+.. _reference-internals:
+
 Internals
 =========
 
@@ -28,6 +30,10 @@ The following is a dive into some of the internals in nova.
   ``ComputeDriver.update_provider_tree`` method.
 * :doc:`/reference/upgrade-checks`: A guide to writing automated upgrade
   checks.
+* :doc:`/reference/conductor`
+
+.. todo:: Need something about versioned objects and how they fit in with
+          conductor as an object backporter during upgrades.
 
 Debugging
 =========
diff --git a/doc/source/user/index.rst b/doc/source/user/index.rst
index 5d2d037221d5..d726f0a04163 100644
--- a/doc/source/user/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/user/index.rst
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ Architecture Overview
   to connect specific block devices to computes. This deserves its own deep
   dive.
 
-* :doc:`Conductor </user/conductor>`: TODO
+See the :ref:`reference guide <reference-internals>` for details about more
+internal subsystems.
 
 Deployment Considerations
 -------------------------