diff --git a/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParser.java b/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParser.java
index de93ddacefe..0daf7197fec 100644
--- a/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParser.java
+++ b/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParser.java
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@
 import org.openrewrite.groovy.GroovyIsoVisitor;
 import org.openrewrite.groovy.GroovyParser;
 import org.openrewrite.groovy.tree.G;
+import org.openrewrite.internal.ListUtils;
 import org.openrewrite.internal.lang.Nullable;
+import org.openrewrite.java.tree.Comment;
 
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -64,7 +66,9 @@ public List<G.CompilationUnit> parseInputs(Iterable<Input> sources, @Nullable Pa
             @Override
             public G.CompilationUnit visitCompilationUnit(G.CompilationUnit cu, ExecutionContext executionContext) {
                 G.CompilationUnit g = super.visitCompilationUnit(cu, ctx);
-                return g.withStatements(g.getStatements().subList(DefaultImportsCustomizer.DEFAULT_IMPORTS.length, g.getStatements().size()));
+                List<Comment> comments = g.getStatements().get(0).getComments();
+                return g.withStatements(ListUtils.mapFirst(g.getStatements().subList(DefaultImportsCustomizer.DEFAULT_IMPORTS.length, g.getStatements().size()),
+                        s -> s.withComments(comments)));
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParserTest.java b/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParserTest.java
index d679eb94d8f..8035e05738f 100644
--- a/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParserTest.java
+++ b/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/GradleParserTest.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void allowImports() {
           buildGradle(
             """
               import org.gradle.api.Project
-              
+
               dependencies {
                   implementation "org.openrewrite:rewrite-java:latest.release"
               }
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ void allowMethodDeclaration() {
               dependencies {
                   implementation "org.openrewrite:rewrite-java:latest.release"
               }
-              
+
               def greet() {
                   return "Hello, world!"
               }
@@ -97,4 +97,22 @@ def greet() {
           )
         );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void dontClobberLeadingComments() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          buildGradle(
+            """
+              /*
+               * LICENSE
+               */
+              import org.gradle.api.Project
+
+              dependencies {
+                  testImplementation "junit:junit:4.13"
+              }
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
 }