diff --git a/package/base-files/Makefile b/package/base-files/Makefile
index b72b17ee16..52669444ee 100644
--- a/package/base-files/Makefile
+++ b/package/base-files/Makefile
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ define Package/base-files/conffiles
 /etc/config/system
 /etc/crontabs/
 /etc/dropbear/
+/etc/ethers
 /etc/group
 /etc/hosts
 /etc/inittab
diff --git a/package/base-files/files/etc/ethers b/package/base-files/files/etc/ethers
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b92c200a4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package/base-files/files/etc/ethers
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#
+#  Lookup man 5 ethers for syntax documentation
+#
+#  Examples :
+#	02:00:11:22:33:44	OpenWrt.lan
+#	02:00:11:22:33:44	192.168.1.1