diff --git a/src/main/asciidoc/_chapters/developer.adoc b/src/main/asciidoc/_chapters/developer.adoc
index d93acf50944..6a546fb22d9 100644
--- a/src/main/asciidoc/_chapters/developer.adoc
+++ b/src/main/asciidoc/_chapters/developer.adoc
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ info.
 
 ==== Working on an issue
 
-To check for existing issues which you can tackle as a beginner, search for link:https://issues.apache.org/jira/issues/?jql=project%20%3D%20HBASE%20AND%20labels%20in%20(beginner)[issues in JIRA tagged with the label 'beginner'].
+To check for existing issues which you can tackle as a beginner, search for link:https://issues.apache.org/jira/issues/?jql=project%20%3D%20HBASE%20AND%20labels%20in%20(beginner)%20AND%20status%20in%20(Open%2C%20%22In%20Progress%22%2C%20Reopened)[issues in JIRA tagged with the label 'beginner'].
 
 .JIRA Priorites
 * *Blocker*: Should only be used if the issue WILL cause data loss or cluster instability reliably.