diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index bbdec8ef5d..a1b1ca40f4 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -201,7 +201,11 @@ endif
 .PHONY: common-yamllint
 common-yamllint:
 	@echo ">> running yamllint on all YAML files in the repository"
+ifeq (, $(shell which yamllint))
+	@echo "yamllint not installed so skipping"
+else
 	yamllint .
+endif
 
 # For backward-compatibility.
 .PHONY: common-staticcheck
diff --git a/scripts/sync_repo_files.sh b/scripts/sync_repo_files.sh
index 104c547321..e686cda2ef 100755
--- a/scripts/sync_repo_files.sh
+++ b/scripts/sync_repo_files.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ if [ -z "${GITHUB_TOKEN}" ]; then
 fi
 
 # List of files that should be synced.
-SYNC_FILES="CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md LICENSE Makefile.common SECURITY.md"
+SYNC_FILES="CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md LICENSE Makefile.common SECURITY.md .yamllint"
 
 # Go to the root of the repo
 cd "$(git rev-parse --show-cdup)" || exit 1