diff --git a/contrib/check-commit b/contrib/check-commit
--- a/contrib/check-commit
+++ b/contrib/check-commit
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ errors = [
      "summary line doesn't start with 'topic: '"),
     (r"^# .*\n[A-Z][a-z]\S+", "don't capitalize summary lines"),
     (r"^# .*\n[^\n]*: *[A-Z][a-z]\S+", "don't capitalize summary lines"),
+    (r"^# [^\n]*\n\S*[^A-Za-z0-9-]\S*: ",
+     "summary keyword should be most user-relevant one-word command or topic"),
     (r"^# .*\n.*\.\s+$", "don't add trailing period on summary line"),
     (r"^# .*\n[^#].{77,}", "summary line too long (limit is 78)"),
     (r"^\+\n \n", "adds double empty line"),