diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 3c04f4f99..9ebeba488 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 *.a binary
+*.patch binary
 # Default conflict marker size is 7 which causes some of the headings in
 # release-notes.txt to trigger git diff --check: 'leftover conflict marker'
 # when the heading is exactly 7 characters long.