diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eeae219..9890f0a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ You may pass additional flags to `gi_gen`. These are the currently available fla
 | `-languages` \| `-l`     | List the languages you want to use as templates.<br />To add multiple templates, use commas as separators, e.g.: `-languages Node,Python`                        |
 | `-auto-discover` \| `-d` | Use auto-discovery for project, detecting the project type and using the result as the pre-selected template list.                                               |
 | `-clean-output` \| `-c`  | Perform cleanup on the output .gitignore file, removing any unused patterns                                                                                      |
+| `-keep-output` \| `-k`   | Do not perform cleanup on the output .gitignore file, keep all the original contents                                                                             |
 | `-append` \| `-a`        | Append to .gitignore file if it already exists                                                                                                                   |
 | `-overwrite` \| `-w`     | Overwrite .gitignore file if it already exists                                                                                                                   |
 | `-detect-languages`      | Outputs the automatically-detected languages, separated by newlines, and exits. Useful for outside tools detection.                                              |
diff --git a/cmd/gi_gen.go b/cmd/gi_gen.go
index 06830fc..85bfe1c 100644
--- a/cmd/gi_gen.go
+++ b/cmd/gi_gen.go
@@ -29,13 +29,15 @@ func RunMainCmd() {
 	flagLangs := getLangsFromArgs()
 	internal.GIGen(&internal.GIGenOptions{
 		Languages:         &flagLangs,
-		AutoDiscover:      &autoDiscover,
+		AutoDiscover:      autoDiscover,
 		AutoDiscoverUsed:  isFlagPassed("auto-discover") || isFlagPassed("d"),
-		CleanOutput:       &cleanOutput,
+		CleanOutput:       cleanOutput,
 		CleanOutputUsed:   isFlagPassed("clean-output") || isFlagPassed("c"),
-		OverwriteFile:     &overwriteFile,
+		KeepOutput:        keepOutput,
+		KeepOutputUsed:    isFlagPassed("keep-output") || isFlagPassed("k"),
+		OverwriteFile:     overwriteFile,
 		OverwriteFileUsed: isFlagPassed("overwrite") || isFlagPassed("w"),
-		AppendFile:        &appendFile,
+		AppendFile:        appendFile,
 		AppendFileUsed:    isFlagPassed("append") || isFlagPassed("a"),
 	})
 }
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ func RunMainCmd() {
 var langsRaw string = ""
 var cleanCache bool
 var cleanOutput bool
+var keepOutput bool
 var overwriteFile bool
 var appendFile bool
 var detectLanguage bool
@@ -59,6 +62,8 @@ func initFlags() {
 	autoDiscoverUsage := "Use auto-discovery for project, detecting the project type and using the result as the pre-" +
 		"selected template list."
 	cleanOutputUsage := "Perform cleanup on the output .gitignore file, removing any unused patterns"
+	keepOutputUsage := "Do not perform cleanup on the output .gitignore file, keep all the original contents " +
+		"(opposite of -clean-output)"
 	appendUsage := "Append to .gitignore file if it already exists"
 	overwriteUsage := "Overwrite .gitignore file if it already exists"
 	clearCacheUsage := "Clear the .gitignore cache directory, for troubleshooting or for removing trace files of this " +
@@ -75,6 +80,9 @@ func initFlags() {
 	flag.BoolVar(&cleanOutput, "c", false, shorthand(cleanOutputUsage))
 	flag.BoolVar(&cleanOutput, "clean-output", false, cleanOutputUsage)
 
+	flag.BoolVar(&keepOutput, "k", false, shorthand(keepOutputUsage))
+	flag.BoolVar(&keepOutput, "keep-output", false, keepOutputUsage)
+
 	flag.BoolVar(&overwriteFile, "w", false, shorthand(overwriteUsage))
 	flag.BoolVar(&overwriteFile, "overwrite", false, overwriteUsage)
 
diff --git a/internal/core.go b/internal/core.go
index e7f8602..403ae2d 100644
--- a/internal/core.go
+++ b/internal/core.go
@@ -12,13 +12,15 @@ import (
 
 type GIGenOptions struct {
 	Languages         *[]string
-	CleanOutput       *bool
+	CleanOutput       bool
 	CleanOutputUsed   bool
-	AutoDiscover      *bool
+	KeepOutput        bool
+	KeepOutputUsed    bool
+	AutoDiscover      bool
 	AutoDiscoverUsed  bool
-	OverwriteFile     *bool
+	OverwriteFile     bool
 	OverwriteFileUsed bool
-	AppendFile        *bool
+	AppendFile        bool
 	AppendFileUsed    bool
 }
 
@@ -80,8 +82,8 @@ func processFileOutput(cleanupSelection bool, selectedContents []string, selecte
 
 func getCleanupSelection(opts GIGenOptions) bool {
 	var cleanupSelection bool
-	if opts.CleanOutputUsed {
-		cleanupSelection = *opts.CleanOutput
+	if opts.CleanOutputUsed || opts.KeepOutput {
+		cleanupSelection = opts.CleanOutput && !opts.KeepOutput
 	} else {
 		cleanupSelection = askCleanup()
 	}
diff --git a/internal/discovery.go b/internal/discovery.go
index 3d76dd6..be2a9f8 100644
--- a/internal/discovery.go
+++ b/internal/discovery.go
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ func AutoDiscover(allFiles []string) ([]string, map[string]string) {
 
 func readFromSelections(allFiles []string, opts GIGenOptions) ([]string, map[string]string) {
 	var answer bool
-	if opts.AutoDiscoverUsed && *opts.AutoDiscover {
-		answer = *opts.AutoDiscover
+	if opts.AutoDiscoverUsed && opts.AutoDiscover {
+		answer = opts.AutoDiscover
 	} else {
 		answer = askDiscovery()
 	}