diff --git a/git-review/change.go b/git-review/change.go
index d1a21c5..0990d58 100644
--- a/git-review/change.go
+++ b/git-review/change.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -57,17 +58,27 @@
 	if !HasStagedChanges() {
 		printf("no staged changes. Did you forget to 'git add'?")
 	}
-	args := []string{"commit", "-q", "--allow-empty"}
-	if amend {
-		args = append(args, "--amend")
-		if changeQuick {
-			args = append(args, "--no-edit")
+	commit := func(amend bool) {
+		args := []string{"commit", "-q", "--allow-empty"}
+		if amend {
+			args = append(args, "--amend")
+			if changeQuick {
+				args = append(args, "--no-edit")
+			}
 		}
+		if testCommitMsg != "" {
+			args = append(args, "-m", testCommitMsg)
+		}
+		run("git", args...)
 	}
-	if testCommitMsg != "" {
-		args = append(args, "-m", testCommitMsg)
+	commit(amend)
+	for !commitMessageOK() {
+		fmt.Print("re-edit commit message (y/n)? ")
+		if !scanYes() {
+			break
+		}
+		commit(true)
 	}
-	run("git", args...)
 	printf("change updated.")
 }
 
@@ -111,3 +122,55 @@
 	run("git", "branch", "-q", "--set-upstream-to", origin)
 	printf("created branch %v tracking %s.", target, origin)
 }
+
+var (
+	messageRE  = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\[[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\] )?[a-zA-Z0-9-/, ]+: `)
+	oldFixesRE = regexp.MustCompile(`Fixes +(issue +#?)?([0-9]+)`)
+)
+
+func commitMessageOK() bool {
+	body := getOutput("git", "log", "--format=format:%B", "-n", "1")
+	ok := true
+	if !messageRE.MatchString(body) {
+		fmt.Print(commitMessageWarning)
+		ok = false
+	}
+	if m := oldFixesRE.FindStringSubmatch(body); m != nil {
+		fmt.Printf(fixesIssueWarning, m[0], m[2])
+		ok = false
+	}
+	return ok
+}
+
+const commitMessageWarning = `
+Your CL description appears not to use the standard form.
+
+The first line of your change description is conventionally a one-line summary
+of the change, prefixed by the primary affected package, and is used as the
+subject for code review mail; the rest of the description elaborates.
+
+Examples:
+
+	encoding/rot13: new package
+
+	math: add IsInf, IsNaN
+
+	net: fix cname in LookupHost
+
+	unicode: update to Unicode 5.0.2
+
+`
+
+const fixesIssueWarning = `
+Your CL description contains the string %q, which is
+the old Google Code way of linking commits to issues.
+
+You should rewrite it to use the GitHub convention: "Fixes #%v".
+
+`
+
+func scanYes() bool {
+	var s string
+	fmt.Scan(&s)
+	return strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(s), "y")
+}
diff --git a/git-review/change_test.go b/git-review/change_test.go
index f493d94..ad33e7a 100644
--- a/git-review/change_test.go
+++ b/git-review/change_test.go
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@
 	testMain(t, "change", "master")
 	testRan(t, "git checkout -q master")
 
-	testCommitMsg = "my commit msg"
+	testCommitMsg = "foo: my commit msg"
 	t.Logf("master -> work")
 	testMain(t, "change", "work")
 	testRan(t, "git checkout -q -b work",
 		"git branch -q --set-upstream-to origin/master",
-		"git commit -q --allow-empty -m my commit msg")
+		"git commit -q --allow-empty -m foo: my commit msg")
 
 	t.Logf("work -> master")
 	testMain(t, "change", "master")
@@ -29,3 +29,22 @@
 	testMain(t, "change", "dev.branch")
 	testRan(t, "git checkout -q -t -b dev.branch origin/dev.branch")
 }
+
+func TestMessageRE(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		in   string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"blah", false},
+		{"[release-branch.go1.4] blah", false},
+		{"[release-branch.go1.4] math: fix cosine", true},
+		{"math: fix cosine", true},
+		{"math/rand: make randomer", true},
+		{"math/rand, crypto/rand: fix random sources", true},
+	} {
+		got := messageRE.MatchString(c.in)
+		if got != c.want {
+			t.Errorf("MatchString(%q) = %v, want %v", c.in, got, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+}