diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4ee9dce..df6a958 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@ Application manifests should go in their own branches, named after the applicati
 
 For example, for gnome-recipes, there is a branch named org.gnome.Recipes which has
 the org.gnome.Recipes.json file at the toplevel.
+
+The manifests should build releases, not development snapshots, so please use
+tarballs or git tags, not just the tip of a branch.