diff --git a/HACKING.rst b/HACKING.rst
index 5d3ec183441e3871cdca075989c2020b80804079..b5746d991cbe19cdcb570d739056f92a53cf6ed8 100644
--- a/HACKING.rst
+++ b/HACKING.rst
@@ -23,26 +23,28 @@ a reasonable timeframe for identifying these.
 
 Patch submissions
 -----------------
-Branches must be submitted as merge requests in gitlab and should usually
-be associated to an issue report on gitlab.
+Branches must be submitted as merge requests in gitlab. If the branch
+fixes an issue or is related to any issues, these issues must be mentioned
+in the merge request or preferably the commit messages themselves.
 
-Commits in the branch which address specific issues must specify the
-issue number in the commit message.
-
-Merge requests that are not yet ready for review must be prefixed with the
-``WIP:`` identifier. A merge request is not ready for review until the
-submitter expects that the patch is ready to actually land.
+You may open merge requests for the branches you create before you
+are ready to have them reviewed upstream, as long as your merge request
+is not yet ready for review then it must be prefixed with the ``WIP:``
+identifier.
 
 Submitted branches must not contain a history of the work done in the
 feature branch. Please use git's interactive rebase feature in order to
 compose a clean patch series suitable for submission.
 
-We prefer that test case and documentation changes be submitted
-in separate commits from the code changes which they test.
+We prefer that documentation changes be submitted in separate commits from
+the code changes which they document, and new test cases are also preferred
+in separate commits.
 
-Ideally every commit in the history of master passes its test cases. This
-makes bisections more easy to perform, but is not always practical with
-more complex branches.
+If a commit in your branch modifies behavior such that a test must also
+be changed to match the new behavior, then the tests should be updated
+with the same commit. Ideally every commit in the history of master passes
+its test cases, this makes bisections more easy to perform, but is not
+always practical with more complex branches.
 
 
 Commit messages
@@ -54,9 +56,6 @@ the change.
 The summary line must start with what changed, followed by a colon and
 a very brief description of the change.
 
-If there is an associated issue, it **must** be mentioned somewhere
-in the commit message.
-
 **Example**::
 
   element.py: Added the frobnicator so that foos are properly frobbed.
@@ -65,8 +64,6 @@ in the commit message.
   the element. Elements that are not properly frobnicated raise
   an error to inform the user of invalid frobnication rules.
 
-  This fixes issue #123
-
 
 Coding style
 ------------