diff --git a/docs/contributing.txt b/docs/contributing.txt
index 3200a87012a..a842f4477ae 100644
--- a/docs/contributing.txt
+++ b/docs/contributing.txt
@@ -335,6 +335,10 @@ Please follow these coding standards when writing code for inclusion in Django:
 
     * Unless otherwise specified, follow `PEP 8`_.
 
+      You could use  a tool like `pep8.py`_ to check for some problems in this
+      area, but remember that PEP 8 is only a guide, so respect the style of
+      the surrounding code as a primary goal.
+
     * Use four spaces for indentation.
 
     * Use underscores, not camelCase, for variable, function and method names
@@ -924,5 +928,6 @@ requests for commit access are potential flame-war starters, and will be ignored
 .. _`#django`: irc://irc.freenode.net/django
 .. _list of tickets with patches: http://code.djangoproject.com/query?status=new&status=assigned&status=reopened&has_patch=1&order=priority
 .. _PEP 8: http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0008.html
+.. _pep8.py: http://svn.browsershots.org/trunk/devtools/pep8/pep8.py
 .. _i18n branch: http://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/branches/i18n
 .. _`tags/releases`: http://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/tags/releases