diff --git a/Tools/gittools/pre-commit.py b/Tools/gittools/pre-commit.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..adb59f5b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/gittools/pre-commit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+'''
+A script suitable for use as a git pre-commit hook to ensure your
+files are flake8-compliant before committing them.
+
+Use this by copying it to a file called $ARDUPILOT_ROOT/.git/hooks/pre-commit
+
+ AP_FLAKE8_CLEAN
+'''
+
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+import subprocess
+
+
+class PreCommitFlake8(object):
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
+
+    def progress(self, message):
+        print("***** %s" % (message, ))
+
+    def check_file(self, filepath):
+        content = open(filepath).read()
+        if "AP_FLAKE8_CLEAN" not in content:
+            return True
+        self.progress("Checking (%s)" % filepath)
+        retcode = subprocess.call(["flake8", filepath])
+        if retcode != 0:
+            self.progress("File (%s) failed with retcode (%s)" %
+                          (filepath, retcode))
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    def split_git_diff_output(self, output):
+        '''split output from git-diff into a list of (status, filepath) tuples'''
+        ret = []
+        if type(output) == bytes:
+            output = output.decode('utf-8')
+        for line in output.split("\n"):
+            if len(line) == 0:
+                continue
+            ret.append(re.split(r"\s+", line))
+        return ret
+
+    def run(self):
+        # generate a list of files which have changes not marked for commit
+        output = subprocess.check_output([
+            "git", "diff", "--name-status"])
+        dirty_list = self.split_git_diff_output(output)
+        dirty = set()
+        for (status, dirty_filepath) in dirty_list:
+            dirty.add(dirty_filepath)
+
+        # check files marked for commit:
+        output = subprocess.check_output([
+            "git", "diff", "--cached", "--name-status"])
+        output_tuples = self.split_git_diff_output(output)
+        self.retcode = 0
+        for output_tuple in output_tuples:
+            if len(output_tuple) > 2:
+                if output_tuple[0].startswith('R'):
+                    # rename, check destination
+                    (status, filepath) = (output_tuple[0], output_tuple[2])
+                else:
+                    raise ValueError("Unknown status %s" % str(output_tuple[0]))
+            else:
+                (status, filepath) = output_tuple
+            if filepath in dirty:
+                self.progress("WARNING: (%s) has unstaged changes" % filepath)
+            if status == 'D':
+                # don't check deleted files
+                continue
+            (base, extension) = os.path.splitext(filepath)
+            if extension != ".py":
+                continue
+            if not self.check_file(filepath):
+                self.retcode = 1
+        return self.retcode
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    precommit = PreCommitFlake8()
+    sys.exit(precommit.run())