diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 56203f4e0acb..2f3f09a8747d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -67,3 +67,4 @@ test.sh
 !/suricata-update/Makefile.am
 /libsuricata-config
 !/libsuricata-config.in
+!/.readthedocs.yaml
diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bc23deb5f082
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Required by Read The Docs
+version: 2
+
+python:
+  version: "3.8"
+
+  # Use an empty install section to avoid RTD from picking up a non-python
+  # requirements.txt file.
+  install: []