diff --git a/states/sysctl/init.sls b/states/sysctl/init.sls
index 423fb01..0c455fb 100644
--- a/states/sysctl/init.sls
+++ b/states/sysctl/init.sls
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 {%- from "sysctl/map.jinja" import sysctl with context %}
 {%- for file,sysctls in sysctl.config.items() %}
+sysctl-file-{{ file }}:
+  file.touch:
+    - name: /etc/sysctl.d/{{ file }}.conf
+
 sysctl-values-{{ file }}:
   file.keyvalue:
     - name: /etc/sysctl.d/{{ file }}.conf