diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0ba351f6d641..0f4aabd786e0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# Ignore files generated by the Maven build process.
 target/
 
 # Ignore IntelliJ files.
@@ -14,3 +15,7 @@ target/
 # The build process generates the dependency-reduced POM, but it shouldn't be
 # committed.
 dependency-reduced-pom.xml
+
+# Ignore files that end with '~', since they are most likely auto-save files
+# produced by a text editor.
+*~