diff --git a/src/check-project/index.js b/src/check-project/index.js
index ecb0f652e..94f31da29 100755
--- a/src/check-project/index.js
+++ b/src/check-project/index.js
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ import semver from 'semver'
 import Listr from 'listr'
 import yargsParser from 'yargs-parser'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
+import {
+  isMonorepoProject
+} from '../utils.js'
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
@@ -128,9 +131,13 @@ async function processMonorepo (projectDir, manifest, branchName, repoUrl) {
   proposedManifest = sortManifest(proposedManifest)
 
   await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, 'package.json', JSON.stringify(proposedManifest, null, 2))
-  await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, '.gitignore', fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'files', 'gitignore'), {
-    encoding: 'utf-8'
-  }))
+
+  if (!isMonorepoProject) {
+    await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, '.gitignore', fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'files', 'gitignore'), {
+      encoding: 'utf-8'
+    }))
+  }
+
   await checkLicenseFiles(projectDir)
   await checkBuildFiles(projectDir, branchName, repoUrl)
   await checkMonorepoReadme(projectDir, repoUrl, branchName, projectDirs)
@@ -388,9 +395,13 @@ async function processModule (projectDir, manifest, branchName, repoUrl, homePag
   proposedManifest = sortManifest(proposedManifest)
 
   await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, 'package.json', JSON.stringify(proposedManifest, null, 2))
-  await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, '.gitignore', fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'files', 'gitignore'), {
-    encoding: 'utf-8'
-  }))
+
+  if (!isMonorepoProject) {
+    await ensureFileHasContents(projectDir, '.gitignore', fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'files', 'gitignore'), {
+      encoding: 'utf-8'
+    }))
+  }
+
   await checkLicenseFiles(projectDir)
   await checkReadme(projectDir, repoUrl, branchName, rootManifest)
 }
diff --git a/src/check-project/utils.js b/src/check-project/utils.js
index 16415e099..de8cf0ff1 100644
--- a/src/check-project/utils.js
+++ b/src/check-project/utils.js
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ export async function ensureFileHasContents (projectDir, filePath, expectedConte
     })
 
     if (!createFile) {
-      throw new Error(`Not creating ${filePath} file`)
+      console.warn(kleur.yellow(`${filePath} did not exist`))
+      return
     }
 
     fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(path.join(projectDir, filePath)), {