diff --git a/doc/contributing.texi b/doc/contributing.texi
index a3684a5e1d..18d891db4e 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.texi
+++ b/doc/contributing.texi
@@ -288,6 +288,20 @@ name of the new or modified package, and fix any errors it reports
 Make sure the package builds on your platform, using @code{guix build
 @var{package}}.
 
+@item
+@cindex bundling
+Make sure the package does not use bundled copies of software already
+available as separate packages.
+
+Sometimes, packages include copies of the source code of their
+dependencies as a convenience for users.  However, as a distribution, we
+want to make sure that such packages end up using the copy we already
+have in the distribution, if there is one.  This improves resource usage
+(the dependency is built and stored only once), and allows the
+distribution to make transverse changes such as applying security
+updates for a given software package in a single place and have them
+affect the whole system---something that bundled copies prevent.
+
 @item
 Take a look at the profile reported by @command{guix size}
 (@pxref{Invoking guix size}).  This will allow you to notice references