diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f3424d231e2..e3d191dcbcc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ autoconf/autom4te.cache
 # Directories to ignore (do not add trailing '/'s, they skip symlinks).
 #==============================================================================#
 # External projects that are tracked independently.
-projects/*/
+projects/*
+!projects/*.*
+!projects/Makefile
 # Clang, which is tracked independently.
 tools/clang
 # LLDB, which is tracked independently.