diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
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--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Contributing
 
+## Discuss Significant Changes
+
+Before you invest a significant amount of time on a change, please create a discussion or issue describing your
+proposal. This will help to ensure your proposed change has a reasonable chance of being merged.
+
+## Avoid Dependencies
+
+Adding a dependency is a big deal. While on occasion a new dependency may be accepted, the default answer to any change
+that adds a dependency is no.
+
 ## Development Environment Setup
 
 pgx tests naturally require a PostgreSQL database. It will connect to the database specified in the `PGX_TEST_DATABASE`