diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_new.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_new.rs
index f9811f7a690..d6a368170f7 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_new.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_new.rs
@@ -716,6 +716,22 @@ edition = {}
         .as_bytes(),
     )?;
 
+    // Create README for binary crates
+    // Eventually, we will do something similar for library and workspace crates
+
+    if opts.bin {
+        paths::write(
+            &path.join("README.md"),
+            format!(
+                r#"TODO: add a description of this crate's purpose
+cargo install [{}]
+        "#,
+                name,
+            )
+            .as_bytes(),
+        )?;
+    }
+
     // Create all specified source files (with respective parent directories) if they don't exist.
 
     for i in &opts.source_files {
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/new.rs b/tests/testsuite/new.rs
index 7455094d688..27406660d73 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/new.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/new.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ fn simple_lib() {
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/Cargo.toml").is_file());
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/src/lib.rs").is_file());
     assert!(!paths::root().join("foo/.gitignore").is_file());
+    assert!(!paths::root().join("foo/README.md").is_file());
 
     let lib = paths::root().join("foo/src/lib.rs");
     let mut contents = String::new();
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ fn simple_bin() {
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo").is_dir());
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/Cargo.toml").is_file());
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/src/main.rs").is_file());
+    assert!(paths::root().join("foo/README.md").is_file());
 
     cargo_process("build").cwd(&paths::root().join("foo")).run();
     assert!(paths::root()
@@ -84,6 +86,7 @@ fn simple_git() {
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/src/lib.rs").is_file());
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/.git").is_dir());
     assert!(paths::root().join("foo/.gitignore").is_file());
+    assert!(!paths::root().join("foo/README.md").is_file());
 
     let fp = paths::root().join("foo/.gitignore");
     let mut contents = String::new();