diff --git a/doc/contributing.texi b/doc/contributing.texi
index c436bc4a31..d8ca6802c4 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.texi
+++ b/doc/contributing.texi
@@ -1486,7 +1486,7 @@ reply to incoming bugs and patches, which contains the bug number.
 @anchor{Notifying Teams}
 @cindex teams
 The @file{etc/teams.scm} script may be used to notify all those who
-may be interested in your patch of its existence (@pxref{Teams}).
+may be interested in your patch and may approve it (@pxref{Teams}).
 Use @command{etc/teams.scm list-teams} to display all the teams,
 decide which team(s) your patch relates to, and use
 @command{etc/teams.scm cc} to output various @command{git send-email}
@@ -1557,6 +1557,9 @@ these changes are necessary.
 @subsection Teams
 @cindex teams
 
+The project is structured as @dfn{teams}, which play two related roles:
+mentoring people who contribute code in their area of expertise, and
+reviewing and approving changes to that code.
 There are several teams mentoring different parts of the Guix source
 code.  To list all those teams, you can run from a Guix checkout:
 
@@ -1840,8 +1843,14 @@ Patches}).  It also allows patches to be picked up and tested by the
 quality assurance tooling; the result of that testing eventually shows
 up on the dashboard at
 @indicateurl{https://qa.guix.gnu.org/issue/@var{ISSUE_NUMBER}}, where
-@var{ISSUE_NUMBER} is the number assigned by the issue tracker.  Leave
-time for a review, without committing anything (@pxref{Submitting
+@var{ISSUE_NUMBER} is the number assigned by the issue tracker.
+
+When your patch falls under the area of expertise of a team
+(@pxref{Teams}), you need the explicit approval of at least one team
+member before committing (another team member if you are on the team).
+
+In other cases,
+leave time for a review, without committing anything (@pxref{Submitting
 Patches}).  If you didn’t receive any reply after one week (two weeks
 for more significant changes), and if you're confident, it's OK to
 commit.