diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..e001bb2fc 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Empty __init__.py file to signal Python this directory is a package.
+(It can't be completely empty since WinZip seems to skip empty files.)
+"""
diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/encodings/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/encodings/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..e001bb2fc 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/encodings/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/encodings/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Empty __init__.py file to signal Python this directory is a package.
+(It can't be completely empty since WinZip seems to skip empty files.)
+"""
diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/misc/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/misc/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..e001bb2fc 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/misc/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/misc/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Empty __init__.py file to signal Python this directory is a package.
+(It can't be completely empty since WinZip seems to skip empty files.)
+"""
diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/__init__.py
index 2f1763704..e001bb2fc 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/ttLib/tables/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-# dummy file, so Python knows ttLib.tables is a subpackage
+"""Empty __init__.py file to signal Python this directory is a package.
+(It can't be completely empty since WinZip seems to skip empty files.)
+"""