diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index be784024a0b..3ebf00ed521 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ src/qt/bitcoin-qt.includes
 *.pyc
 *.o
 *.o-*
-*.patch
 *.a
 *.pb.cc
 *.pb.h
@@ -75,6 +74,10 @@ src/qt/bitcoin-qt.includes
 *.json.h
 *.raw.h
 
+# Only ignore unexpected patches
+*.patch
+!depends/patches/*.patch
+
 #libtool object files
 *.lo
 *.la