diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2e5eabe28fcf8..fc1d931b80fa9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ dist
 env
 initdb.py
 logs
+*.cfg
 MANIFEST
 secrets.py
diff --git a/airflow/airflow.cfg b/airflow/airflow.cfg.template
similarity index 100%
rename from airflow/airflow.cfg
rename to airflow/airflow.cfg.template
diff --git a/init.sh b/init.sh
index f2c3d794c653b..dbead12d94b15 100644
--- a/init.sh
+++ b/init.sh
@@ -2,4 +2,8 @@
 source $AIRFLOW_HOME/env/bin/activate
 export PYTHONPATH=$AIRFLOW_HOME
 export AIRFLOW_CONFIG_PATH=$AIRFLOW_HOME/airflow/airflow.cfg
-sed -i .bk "s#TO_REPLACE_FROM_OS_ENVIRON#$AIRFLOW_HOME#" $AIRFLOW_CONFIG_PATH
+
+# Create the conf file from template if it doesn't exist
+if [ ! -f $AIRFLOW_CONFIG_PATH ]; then
+    sed "s#TO_REPLACE_FROM_OS_ENVIRON#$AIRFLOW_HOME#" ${AIRFLOW_CONFIG_PATH}.template > $AIRFLOW_CONFIG_PATH
+fi