diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1cb83d48d1..b57dd3d205 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ apps/*
 !apps/user_ldap
 !apps/user_webdavauth
 
-# ignore themes
+# ignore themes except the README
 themes/*
+!themes/README
 
 # just sane ignores
 .*.sw[po]