diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 509ca871e..6de7b0de6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 build*
 .dir-locals.el
 TAGS
-!third-party/cmake
+third-party/*/
+!third-party/cmake/*
 !third-party/akantu-iterators
 !third-party/iohelper
-third-party/*/
 *~
 release
 .*.swp
 *.tar.gz
 *.tgz
 *.tbz
 *.tar.bz2
 .idea
 __pycache__
 .mailmap
diff --git a/third-party/cmake/akantu_iterators.cmake b/third-party/cmake/akantu_iterators.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9093c6e20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party/cmake/akantu_iterators.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+set(AKANTU_ITERATORS_TARGETS_EXPORT ${AKANTU_TARGETS_EXPORT})
+set(AKANTU_ITERATORS_TESTS OFF)
+
+add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/third-party/akantu_iterators)
+
+set(AKANTU_ITERATORS_VERSION "master" CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(AKANTU_ITERATORS_LIBRARIES "akantu_iterators" CACHE INTERNAL "")