diff --git a/tools/run-mypy b/tools/run-mypy
index 906359f8fa..b61d34972f 100755
--- a/tools/run-mypy
+++ b/tools/run-mypy
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ zerver/tests/test_upload.py
 zerver/tests/test_narrow.py
 """.split()
 
+# We don't run mypy on contrib_bots, since the code there will
+# often be shared with other projects that do not want a mypy
+# dependency (at least while it's still kind of beta).
+exclude_common  += ['contrib_bots']
+
 exclude_py2 = [] # type: List[str]
 
 exclude_py3 = """