diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 4ad2b89..0fcbed8 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Choosealicense.com is intended to demystify license choices, not present or cata
    * [List of OSI approved licenses](https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical)
    * [GNU's list of free licenses](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html) (*note: the license must be listed in one of the three "free" categories*)
    * [Open Definition's list of conformant licenses](https://opendefinition.org/licenses/) (non-code)
-3. A [GitHub code search](https://github.com/search?q=MIT+filename%3ALICENSE&type=Code) must reveal at least *1,000* public repositories using the license.
+3. The license must be used in at least *1,000* public repositories. This may be documented, for example, with a [GitHub code search](https://github.com/search?q=MIT+filename%3ALICENSE&type=Code).
 4. 3 notable projects using the license must be identified. These must have straightforward LICENSE files which serve as examples newcomers can follow and that could be detected by [licensee](https://github.com/benbalter/licensee) if it knew about the license.
 
 If your proposed license meets the above criteria, here's a few other things to keep in mind as you propose the license's addition: