diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/hack/verify-codegen.sh b/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/hack/verify-codegen.sh
index 789f2847244..7dd5e657671 100755
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/hack/verify-codegen.sh
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/hack/verify-codegen.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ cp -a "${DIFFROOT}"/* "${TMP_DIFFROOT}"
 "${SCRIPT_ROOT}/hack/update-codegen.sh"
 echo "diffing ${DIFFROOT} against freshly generated codegen"
 ret=0
-diff -Naupr "${DIFFROOT}" "${TMP_DIFFROOT}" || ret=$?
+diff -Naupr -x.gitignore "${DIFFROOT}" "${TMP_DIFFROOT}" || ret=$?
 if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
   echo "${DIFFROOT} up to date."
 else