diff --git a/airflow/__init__.py b/airflow/__init__.py
index 18f4cc3e3c28c..f6c40b5091bbc 100644
--- a/airflow/__init__.py
+++ b/airflow/__init__.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@
 # under the License.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+# Make `airflow` a namespace package, supporting installing
+# airflow.providers.* in different locations (i.e. one in site, and one in user
+# lib.)  This is required by some IDEs to resolve the import paths.
+__path__ = __import__("pkgutil").extend_path(__path__, __name__)  # type: ignore
+
 __version__ = "3.0.0.dev0"
 
 import os
@@ -59,12 +64,6 @@
     "XComArg",
 ]
 
-# Make `airflow` a namespace package, supporting installing
-# airflow.providers.* in different locations (i.e. one in site, and one in user
-# lib.)
-__path__ = __import__("pkgutil").extend_path(__path__, __name__)  # type: ignore
-
-
 # Perform side-effects unless someone has explicitly opted out before import
 # WARNING: DO NOT USE THIS UNLESS YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
 # This environment variable prevents proper initialization, and things like
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index a09e54db63d20..e95796db7c780 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -765,6 +765,7 @@ def _get_params(root_schema: dict, prefix: str = "", default_section: str = "")
     # These sub-folders aren't really providers, but we need __init__.py files else various tools (ruff, mypy)
     # get confused by providers/tests/systems/cncf/kubernetes and think that folder is the top level
     # kubernetes module!
+    "*/providers/src/airflow/providers/__init__.py",
     "*/providers/tests/__init__.py",
     "*/providers/tests/cncf/__init__.py",
     "*/providers/tests/common/__init__.py",
diff --git a/providers/src/airflow/providers/__init__.py b/providers/src/airflow/providers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..66fbd04b36e4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/providers/src/airflow/providers/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+# Make `airflow` a namespace package, supporting installing
+# airflow.providers.* in different locations (i.e. one in site, and one in user
+# lib.)  This is required by some IDEs to resolve the import paths.
+#
+# Note: this file is not installed or distributed in any distribution!
+__path__ = __import__("pkgutil").extend_path(__path__, __name__)  # type: ignore