diff --git a/api/.gitignore b/api/.gitignore
index 1f7612efa21d..f1af0ea21de0 100644
--- a/api/.gitignore
+++ b/api/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-static/
+static/*
+!static/.gitkeep
 **/staticfiles/*
 
 # SaaS only modules
diff --git a/api/static/.gitkeep b/api/static/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1