diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
index 5476d633c..e586b1701 100644
--- a/backend/.gitignore
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 # production config and external assets
 *.json
+!mempool-config.template.json
 !mempool-config.sample.json
 
 icons.json