diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c2b79e4526
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Note to Github users
+Patches should be submitted to the [ffmpeg-devel mailing list](https://ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel) using `git format-patch` or `git send-email`. Github pull requests should be avoided because they are not part of our review process and **will be ignored**.
+
+See [https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Contributing](https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Contributing) for more information.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 241919193d..7d5a7efe9e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,5 +45,4 @@ GPL. Please refer to the LICENSE file for detailed information.
 
 Patches should be submitted to the ffmpeg-devel mailing list using
 `git format-patch` or `git send-email`. Github pull requests should be
-avoided because they are not part of our review process. Few developers
-follow pull requests so they will likely be ignored.
+avoided because they are not part of our review process and will be ignored.