diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index 4a0e20bb1f7..84d3023d91f 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ Before creating a pull request, please file an issue in the ASF Jira system for
 
 * https://issues.apache.org/jira/projects/SOLR
 
-You will need to create an account in Jira in order to create an issue.
+For something minor (i.e. that wouldn't be worth putting in release notes), you can skip JIRA. 
+To create a Jira issue, you will need to create an account there first.
 
 The title of the PR should reference the Jira issue number in the form: