diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 5506253..92b85b4 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -18,10 +18,7 @@ formatting/markup/style rules so that the style remains consistent:
   functionality, for example [Emacs][Emacs LineWrap] or [Vim][Vim word wrap]);
 * use reference-style links, like `[an example][Example]`. Put the links in
   alphabetical order at the end of the document, and capitalize the first word
-  of the link label;
-* leave **two newlines** before each first, second and third level header (`#`
-  to `###`) and **one newline** before every other type of headers (`####` to
-  `######`).
+  of the link label.
 
 Install [Markdownlint] to check your changes, and run:
 
@@ -32,7 +29,6 @@ mdl --style 'markdown.rb' README.md
 **IMPORTANT**: By submitting a patch, you agree that your work will be
 licensed under the license used by the project.
 
-
 ## Collaborators
 
 If you have contributed to the repository you can be appointed as a collaborator
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2622058..94ea33f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # [The Elixir Style Guide][Elixir Style Guide]
 
-
 ## Table of Contents
 
 * __[Prelude](#prelude)__
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@
   * [License](#license)
   * [Attribution](#attribution)
 
-
 ## Prelude
 
 > Liquid architecture. It's like jazz — you improvise, you work together, you
@@ -41,7 +39,6 @@ Style matters.
 [Elixir] has plenty of style but like all languages it can be stifled.
 Don't stifle the style.
 
-
 ## The Guide
 
 This is our attempt at starting a community style guide for the
@@ -53,7 +50,6 @@ been around five times as long.
 If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
 [Hex package manager site][Hex].
 
-
 ### Source Code Layout
 
 <!-- TODO: Add crafty quote here -->
@@ -254,7 +250,6 @@ If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
   End each file with a newline.
   <sup>[[link](#newline-eof)]</sup>
 
-
 ### Syntax
 
 * <a name="parentheses"></a>
@@ -427,7 +422,6 @@ If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
   end
   ```
 
-
 ### Naming
 
 * <a name="snake-case"></a>
@@ -525,7 +519,6 @@ If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
   defp do_sum([head|tail], total), do: do_sum(tail, head + total)
   ```
 
-
 ### Comments
 
 * <a name="expressive-code"></a>
@@ -602,7 +595,6 @@ If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
   document them in your project's `README` or similar.
   <sup>[[link](#custom-keywords)]</sup>
 
-
 ### Modules
 
 * <a name="one-module-per-file"></a>
@@ -710,7 +702,6 @@ If you're looking for other projects to contribute to please see the
   end
   ```
 
-
 ### Documentation
 
 Documentation in Elixir (when read either in `iex` with `h` or generated with
@@ -819,7 +810,6 @@ Documentation in Elixir (when read either in `iex` with `h` or generated with
   end
   ```
 
-
 ### Typespecs
 
 Typespecs are notation for declaring types and specifications, for
@@ -894,7 +884,6 @@ directives (see [Modules](#modules)).
   end
   ```
 
-
 ### Structs
 
 * <a name="nil-struct-field-defaults"></a>
@@ -919,7 +908,6 @@ directives (see [Modules](#modules)).
             qux: false, quux: nil
   ```
 
-
 ### Exceptions
 
 * <a name="exception-names"></a>
@@ -955,12 +943,10 @@ directives (see [Modules](#modules)).
   raise ArgumentError, "this is not valid"
   ```
 
-
 ### Collections
 
 _No guidelines for collections have been added yet._
 
-
 ### Strings
 
 * <a name="strings-matching-with-concatenator"></a>
@@ -975,19 +961,16 @@ _No guidelines for collections have been added yet._
   "my" <> _rest = "my string"
   ```
 
-
 ### Regular Expressions
 
 _No guidelines for regular expressions have been added yet._
 
-
 ### Metaprogramming
 
 * <a name="avoid-metaprogramming"></a>
   Avoid needless metaprogramming.
   <sup>[[link](#avoid-metaprogramming)]</sup>
 
-
 ### Suggested Alternatives
 
 Suggested alternatives are styles that haven't been seen much in the community
@@ -1022,21 +1005,17 @@ yet but might provide some value.
   end
   ```
 
-
 ### Style Guides
 
 Check [Awesome Elixir][Style Guides] for a list of alternative style guides.
 
-
 ### Tools
 
 Refer to [Awesome Elixir][Code Analysis] for libraries and tools that can help
 with code analysis and style linting.
 
-
 ## Getting Involved
 
-
 ### Contributing
 
 It's our hope that this will become a central hub for community discussion on
@@ -1047,24 +1026,20 @@ Thanks in advance for your help!
 Check the [contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md)
 and [code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) for more information.
 
-
 ### Spread the Word
 
 A community style guide is meaningless without the community's support. Please
 tweet, [star][Stargazers], and let any Elixir programmer know
 about [this guide][Elixir Style Guide] so they can contribute.
 
-
 ## Copying
 
-
 ### License
 
 ![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/88x31.png)
 This work is licensed under a
 [Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License][License]
 
-
 ### Attribution
 
 The structure of this guide, bits of example code, and many of the initial
diff --git a/markdown.rb b/markdown.rb
index 878a0ae..9701da8 100644
--- a/markdown.rb
+++ b/markdown.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 all
 
-exclude_rule 'MD012' # Multiple consecutive blank lines
 exclude_rule 'MD036' # Emphasis used instead of a header
 exclude_rule 'MD033' # Inline HTML - exclude this to allow for anchor links in each bullet point