diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 19dffe7114a15..ada37777322f2 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ Please make sure you have signed the [Contributor License Agreement](http://www.
   npm run elasticsearch
   ```
 
-- Start the development server.
+- Start the development server. _On Windows, you'll need you use Git Bash, Cygwin, or a similar shell that exposes the `sh` command._
 
   ```sh
   npm start
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4374c50569957..fb15b12a3c148 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
     "test:coverage": "grunt test:coverage",
     "build": "grunt build",
     "build:ospackages": "grunt build --os-packages",
-    "start": "./bin/kibana --dev",
+    "start": "sh ./bin/kibana --dev",
     "precommit": "grunt precommit",
     "karma": "karma start",
     "elasticsearch": "grunt esvm:dev:keepalive",