diff --git a/changelog.d/20219.doc b/changelog.d/20219.doc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bfa49e480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/20219.doc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Replace the stale minimum `poetry` version in the contributing docs with a pointer to the minimum defined in `pyproject.toml`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/development/contributing_guide.md b/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
index f967dda6f2..c3f6a236c2 100644
--- a/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
+++ b/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ pipx install poetry
 but see poetry's [installation instructions](https://python-poetry.org/docs/#installation)
 for other installation methods.
 
-Developing Synapse requires Poetry version 1.3.2 or later.
+The minimum poetry version is specified by the `requires-poetry` line in [pyproject.toml](https://github.com/element-hq/synapse/blob/develop/pyproject.toml).
 
 Next, open a terminal and install dependencies as follows: