diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 18adc5c121f..a9e14b9298f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -57,3 +57,6 @@ test/pullrequest/pullrequest-init
 # Temporary GOPATH used during code gen if user's Tekton checkout is
 # not already in GOPATH.
 .gopath
+
+# Backup of API reference docs generated by sed
+docs/pipeline-api.md.backup