diff --git a/hostapd/config_file.c b/hostapd/config_file.c
index 0c1f401..9800ab2 100644
--- a/hostapd/config_file.c
+++ b/hostapd/config_file.c
@@ -2539,6 +2539,8 @@
 			conf->hw_mode = HOSTAPD_MODE_IEEE80211G;
 		else if (os_strcmp(pos, "ad") == 0)
 			conf->hw_mode = HOSTAPD_MODE_IEEE80211AD;
+		else if (os_strcmp(pos, "any") == 0)
+			conf->hw_mode = HOSTAPD_MODE_IEEE80211ANY;
 		else {
 			wpa_printf(MSG_ERROR, "Line %d: unknown hw_mode '%s'",
 				   line, pos);
diff --git a/hostapd/hostapd.conf b/hostapd/hostapd.conf
index 390c753..1c1e43d 100644
--- a/hostapd/hostapd.conf
+++ b/hostapd/hostapd.conf
@@ -127,7 +127,9 @@
 
 # Operation mode (a = IEEE 802.11a, b = IEEE 802.11b, g = IEEE 802.11g,
 # ad = IEEE 802.11ad (60 GHz); a/g options are used with IEEE 802.11n, too, to
-# specify band)
+# specify band). When using ACS (see channel parameter), a special value "any"
+# can be used to indicate that any support band can be used. This special case
+# is currently supported only with drivers with which offloaded ACS is used.
 # Default: IEEE 802.11b
 hw_mode=g