diff --git a/appengine/flexible/laravel/app.yaml b/appengine/flexible/laravel/app.yaml
index bb801fcc1e..0d0689c003 100644
--- a/appengine/flexible/laravel/app.yaml
+++ b/appengine/flexible/laravel/app.yaml
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ env_variables:
   DB_PASSWORD: YOUR_DB_PASSWORD
   DB_SOCKET: /cloudsql/YOUR_CLOUDSQL_CONNECTION_NAME
 
+# required on some platforms so ".env" is not skipped
+skip_files: false
+
 beta_settings:
     # for Cloud SQL, uncomment and set this value to the Cloud SQL
     # connection name, e.g.
     #   "project:region:cloudsql-instance"
-    cloud_sql_instances: "YOUR_CLOUDSQL_CONNECTION_NAME"
\ No newline at end of file
+    cloud_sql_instances: "YOUR_CLOUDSQL_CONNECTION_NAME"