diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index f437d2516..ec5b48801 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ Even if it's not quite right for NetBox, we may be able to point you to a tool b
 
 ## Submitting Pull Requests
 
+* Be sure to open an issue before starting work on a pull request, and discuss your idea with the NetBox maintainers
+before beginning work​. This will help prevent wasting time on something that might we might not be able to implement.
+When suggesting a new feature, also make sure it won't conflict with any work that's already in progress.
+
 * When submitting a pull request, please be sure to work off of branch `develop`, rather than branch `master`.
 In NetBox, the `develop` branch is used for ongoing development, while `master` is used for tagging new
 stable releases.