diff --git a/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/perl/.empty b/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/perl/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2a8dd4274d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/perl/.empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This directory is empty; this file is included to prevent version control systems from removing the directory.
diff --git a/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/python/.empty b/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/python/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2a8dd4274d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/xenstat/libxenstat/bindings/swig/python/.empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This directory is empty; this file is included to prevent version control systems from removing the directory.