diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 1a6e5417..3c092d0a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -10,6 +10,20 @@ Source code and issue tracking for the D-Bus specification and its
 reference implementation 'dbus' are provided by freedesktop.org Gitlab:
 <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/dbus/dbus>.
 
+## Default branch renamed to `main`
+
+The default development branch for dbus has been renamed to `main`. To
+update your local checkout, use steps similar to:
+
+```sh
+git checkout master
+git branch -m master main
+git fetch
+git branch --unset-upstream
+git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/main
+git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD refs/remotes/origin/main
+```
+
 ## Reporting security vulnerabilities
 
 If you find a security vulnerability that is not known to the public,
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 045c6204..9ddce0c6 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 dbus 1.16.1 (UNRELEASED)
 ========================
 
+Build system:
+
+• The branch used for development releases has been renamed to `main`.
+  Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details of how to update existing checkouts.
+  (dbus#530, Simon McVittie)
+
 Bug fixes:
 
 • On Linux, fix build regression with libselinux ≥ 3.8 and verbose mode