diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6c8bbef66..060813791 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ target_link_libraries(neuron dl neuron-base sqlite3 -lm)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/zlog.conf DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/dev.conf DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/.gitkeep DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/logs)
+file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/.gitkeep DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/persistence)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/neuron.key DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/neuron.pem DESTINATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config)
 file(GLOB SQL_SCHEMAS ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/persistence/*.sql)