diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.gitignore b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.gitignore
index 46bc2fa..0f6a04f 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.gitignore
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 version.py
 
 # Sphinx automatic generation of API
+docs/README.md
 docs/_api/
 
 # Combined environments
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/Makefile b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/Makefile
index 4f457d2..ec93525 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/Makefile
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@ template-update:
 	pre-commit run --all-files cruft -c .pre-commit-config-cruft.yaml
 
 docs-build:
-	cd docs && rm -fr _api && make clean && make html
+	cp README.md docs/. && cd docs && rm -fr _api && make clean && make html
 
 # DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE, ADD COMMANDS BELOW
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/docs/index.md b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/docs/index.md
index df3ce9e..b3ccad9 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/docs/index.md
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/docs/index.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 :caption: 'Contents:'
 :maxdepth: 2
 
+README.md
 API Reference <_api/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/index>
 ```