Abstract. It is clear from Lhomme et al. (2014) that aspects of the explanation of the Matt–Shuttleworth approach can generate confusion. Presumably this is because the description in Shuttleworth (2006) was not sufficiently explicit and simple. This paper explains the logic behind the Matt–Shuttleworth approach clearly, simply and concisely. It shows how the Matt–Shuttleworth can be implemented using a few simple equations and provides access to ancillary calculation resources that can be used for such implementation. If the crop water requirement community decided that it is preferable to use the Penman–Monteith equation to estimate crop water requirements directly for all crops, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization could now update Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 using the Matt–Shuttleworth approach by deriving tabulated values of surface resistance from Table 12 of Allen et al. (1998), with the estimation of crop evaporation then being directly made in a one-step calculation using an equation similar to that already recommended by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for calculating reference crop evaporation.