diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c5a7289d2..19035c59b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ build
 /docker/runtime
 /docker/db
 /docker/elasticsearch/data/nodes
-/docker/opensearch/data/nodes
+/docker/opensearch/data/nodes/*
+!/docker/opensearch/data/nodes/README
 /docker/acme.sh
 /docker/nginx/conf.d
 /docker/nginx/vhost.d
diff --git a/docker/opensearch/data/nodes/README b/docker/opensearch/data/nodes/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..952316788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/opensearch/data/nodes/README
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This directory must exist for mapping otherwise created as root in container and opensearch cannot access it.