diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5a06037ed68f..c5bcfa0337fa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ python-package/compile/
 python-package/lightgbm/VERSION.txt
 
 # R build artefacts
+R-package/docs
 R-package/src/CMakeLists.txt
 R-package/src/lib_lightgbm.so.dSYM/
 R-package/src/src/
diff --git a/R-package/R/lightgbm.R b/R-package/R/lightgbm.R
index 12640ecfb0af..84e2503db2f6 100644
--- a/R-package/R/lightgbm.R
+++ b/R-package/R/lightgbm.R
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #' @param nrounds number of training rounds
 #' @param params List of parameters
 #' @param verbose verbosity for output, if <= 0, also will disable the print of evaluation during training
+#' @keywords internal
 NULL
 
 #' @name lightgbm
diff --git a/R-package/man/lgb_shared_params.Rd b/R-package/man/lgb_shared_params.Rd
index a7143179495e..501997fd2e2d 100644
--- a/R-package/man/lgb_shared_params.Rd
+++ b/R-package/man/lgb_shared_params.Rd
@@ -29,3 +29,4 @@ If early stopping occurs, the model will have 'best_iter' field.}
 \description{
 Parameter docs shared by \code{lgb.train}, \code{lgb.cv}, and \code{lightgbm}
 }
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml b/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
index dce99357840e..91f97a9e84d3 100644
--- a/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/R-package/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ reference:
     - '`lgb.prepare2`'
     - '`lgb.prepare_rules`'
     - '`lgb.prepare_rules2`'
+    - '`lightgbm`'
     - '`lgb.train`'
     - '`lgb.cv`'
   - title: Saving / Loading Models