diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e01ab859b8b8..9a9b1ea0c7a1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # extension txt
 *.txt
+!README.txt
+!readme.txt
+!COPYING.txt
 
 # project files
 .*project