diff --git a/src/codegen/git/repo_operator/repo_operator.py b/src/codegen/git/repo_operator/repo_operator.py
index d2a323e60..9f1f58007 100644
--- a/src/codegen/git/repo_operator/repo_operator.py
+++ b/src/codegen/git/repo_operator/repo_operator.py
@@ -647,6 +647,8 @@ def iter_files(
                         content = self.get_file(filepath)
                         yield rel_filepath, content
                     else:
+                        # WTF??? A no-op file read here fixes file parsing somehow?
+                        open(filepath).close()
                         yield rel_filepath, ""
                 except Exception as e:
                     logger.warning(f"Error reading file {filepath}: {e}")