diff --git a/.github/workflows/chart-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/chart-test.yaml
index be4428e5..25376460 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/chart-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/chart-test.yaml
@@ -104,6 +104,11 @@ jobs:
           ./tools/dev/check-uncommitted-changes.sh || \
           (echo "run 'just update-lock' and commit the result." && exit 1)
 
+      # checks that bumped chart versions have a corresponding NEWS.md entry
+      - name: Check NEWS.md entries
+        if: github.ref != 'refs/heads/main'
+        run: ./tools/dev/check-news-entries.sh main
+
       - name: Notify Slack of chart unittest failure if on main
         if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && steps.unittest.outcome == 'failure'
         uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.27.0
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 47fe3626..41bb06d9 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ We'll try to be as responsive as possible in reviewing and accepting pull reques
   [Go templating](./charts/_templates.gotmpl) and `helm-docs`.
   - Run `just setup` to install `helm-doc`.
 - CI requires that the chart version get bumped for any change in the directory.
+- When bumping a chart version, add a `## X.Y.Z` entry to the chart's `NEWS.md`
+  describing what changed. CI will check for this.
 - Use `just update-lock` to update all chart's lockfiles.
 - Changes to the `rstudio-library` chart will update all downstream charts at
   the same time (via the `file://` syntax in `Chart.yaml`)
diff --git a/tools/dev/check-news-entries.sh b/tools/dev/check-news-entries.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c895e6d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/dev/check-news-entries.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Verify that changed charts with a version bump also have a NEWS.md entry
+# for the new version. Runs in CI alongside the existing version bump check.
+#
+set -euo pipefail
+
+TARGET_BRANCH="${1:-main}"
+exit_code=0
+
+for chart_dir in charts/*/  other-charts/*/; do
+  chart_yaml="${chart_dir}Chart.yaml"
+  news_md="${chart_dir}NEWS.md"
+
+  [ -f "$chart_yaml" ] || continue
+
+  # Get the current version
+  current_version=$(grep '^version:' "$chart_yaml" | awk '{print $2}')
+
+  # Get the version on the target branch
+  base_version=$(git show "origin/${TARGET_BRANCH}:${chart_yaml}" 2>/dev/null | grep '^version:' | awk '{print $2}' || echo "")
+
+  # Skip if version didn't change
+  [ "$current_version" != "$base_version" ] || continue
+
+  # Version was bumped — check for NEWS.md entry
+  if [ ! -f "$news_md" ]; then
+    echo "Error: ${chart_dir} has a version bump ($base_version -> $current_version) but no NEWS.md file."
+    exit_code=1
+    continue
+  fi
+
+  if ! grep -q "^## ${current_version}$" "$news_md"; then
+    echo "Error: ${news_md} is missing an entry for version ${current_version}."
+    echo ""
+    echo "  Chart version was bumped from ${base_version} to ${current_version},"
+    echo "  but NEWS.md has no '## ${current_version}' heading."
+    echo ""
+    echo "  To fix, add a section like this to ${news_md}:"
+    echo ""
+    echo "    ## ${current_version}"
+    echo ""
+    echo "    - Description of what changed"
+    echo ""
+    exit_code=1
+  fi
+done
+
+if [ $exit_code -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "All changed charts have NEWS.md entries."
+fi
+
+exit $exit_code