diff --git a/package/cleanup b/package/cleanup
index 19b89b32d2..1a51c8d3d8 100755
--- a/package/cleanup
+++ b/package/cleanup
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 # Executed during the R CMD BUILD "running ‘cleanup’" step, it ensures a smaller package tarball without the symlink and eliminates R CMD CHECK notes.
 
 export TLG_CATALOG_PKG_BUILD_RENDER=TRUE
-export TLG_CATALOG_PKG_TEST_DATA_PATH=$(realpath "./tests/testthat/_data")
+TLG_CATALOG_PKG_TEST_DATA_PATH=$(realpath "./tests/testthat/_data")
+export TLG_CATALOG_PKG_TEST_DATA_PATH
 if [ "$TLG_CATALOG_PKG_BUILD_RENDER" = "TRUE" ]; then
   echo "Rendering Quarto book..."
   quarto render tests/testthat/_book/ --no-cache
diff --git a/package/tests/testthat/_data/.gitignore b/package/tests/testthat/_data/.gitignore
index 63f2535de6..e5af87e9b5 100644
--- a/package/tests/testthat/_data/.gitignore
+++ b/package/tests/testthat/_data/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 *
 !.gitignore
-!.rbuildkeep
\ No newline at end of file
+!README.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package/tests/testthat/_data/.rbuildkeep b/package/tests/testthat/_data/.rbuildkeep
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb2..0000000000
diff --git a/package/tests/testthat/_data/README.md b/package/tests/testthat/_data/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..094be37c3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package/tests/testthat/_data/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# README
+
+This is an empty file to keep parent dir not empty.