diff --git a/.git-blame-ignore-revs b/.git-blame-ignore-revs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index b4f6d3a6ab24..57b4caddbd1a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ GitHub there are a few pre-requisite steps to follow:
 the linked page, this also includes:
     * [set up your local git install](https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git) 
     * clone your fork
+* Instruct git to ignore certain commits when using `git blame`. From the directory of your local clone, run this: `git config blame.ignoreRevsFile .git-blame-ignore-revs`
 * See the wiki pages for setting up your IDE, whether you use 
 [IntelliJ IDEA](https://hibernate.org/community/contribute/intellij-idea/)
 or [Eclipse](https://hibernate.org/community/contribute/eclipse-ide/)<sup>(1)</sup>.