diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0eb0df1..dca599c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,49 @@ Prometheus HTTP API.
 
 __This library requires Go1.7 or later.__
 
+## Important note about releases, versioning, tagging, stability, and your favorite Go dependency management tool
+
+While our goal is to follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/), this
+repository is still pre-1.0.0. To quote the
+[Semantic Versioning spec](https://semver.org/#spec-item-4): “Anything may
+change at any time. The public API should not be considered stable.” We know
+that this is at odds with the widespread use of this library. However, just
+declaring something 1.0.0 doesn't make it 1.0.0. Instead, we are working
+towards a 1.0.0 release that actually deserves its major version number.
+
+Having said that, we aim for always keeping the tip of master in a workable
+state and for only introducing ”mildly” breaking changes up to and including
+[v0.9.0](https://github.com/prometheus/client_golang/milestone/1). After that,
+a number of ”hard” breaking changes are planned, see the
+[v0.10.0 milestone](https://github.com/prometheus/client_golang/milestone/2),
+which should get the library much closer to 1.0.0 state.
+
+Dependency management in Go projects is still in flux, and there are many tools
+floating around. While [dep](https://golang.github.io/dep/) might develop into
+the de-facto standard tool, it is still officially experimental. The roadmap
+for this library has been laid out with a lot of sometimes painful experience
+in mind. We really cannot adjust it every other month to the needs of the
+currently most popular or most promising Go dependency management tool. The
+recommended course of action with dependency management tools is the following:
+
+- Do not expect strict post-1.0.0 semver semantics prior to the 1.0.0
+  release. If your dependency management tool expects strict post-1.0.0 semver
+  semantics, you have to wait. Sorry.
+- If you want absolute certainty, please lock to a specific commit. You can
+  also lock to tags, but please don't ask for more tagging. This would suggest
+  some release or stability testing procedure that simply is not in place. As
+  said above, we are aiming for stability of the tip of master, but if we
+  tagged every single commit, locking to tags would be the same as locking to
+  commits.
+- If you want to get the newer features and improvements and are willing to
+  take the minor risk of newly introduced bugs and “mild” breakage, just always
+  update to the tip of master (which is essentially the original idea of Go
+  dependency management). We recommend to not use features marked as
+  _deprecated_ in this case.
+- Once [v0.9.0](https://github.com/prometheus/client_golang/milestone/1), you
+  could lock to v0.9.x to get bugfixes (and perhaps minor new features) while
+  avoiding the “hard” breakage that will come with post-0.9 features.
+
 ## Instrumenting applications
 
 [![code-coverage](http://gocover.io/_badge/github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus)](http://gocover.io/github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus) [![go-doc](https://godoc.org/github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus?status.svg)](https://godoc.org/github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus)