diff --git a/railties/lib/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb b/railties/lib/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
index ea1930a966d043b73707904dcbfa1b2533f5645a..92e0d374364317518872b82d4fd07be407ba9210 100644
--- a/railties/lib/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
@@ -138,8 +138,11 @@ def create_public_stylesheets_files
     end
 
     def create_prototype_files
-      return if options[:skip_prototype]
-      directory "public/javascripts"
+      unless options[:skip_prototype]
+        directory "public/javascripts"
+      else
+        empty_directory_with_gitkeep "public/javascripts"
+      end
     end
 
     def create_script_files
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb b/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
index 01d643cd8c4dfb8a1bd98f7a9a0b174c7802bab3..412034029e52841a5b6b7f49af3ed3d628806046 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ def test_prototype_and_test_unit_are_added_by_default
   def test_prototype_and_test_unit_are_skipped_if_required
     run_generator [destination_root, "--skip-prototype", "--skip-testunit"]
     assert_no_file "public/javascripts/prototype.js"
+    assert_file "public/javascripts"
     assert_no_file "test"
   end