diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/io/loading/__init__.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/io/loading/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c26f44468b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/io/loading/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Copyright Iris contributors
+#
+# This file is part of Iris and is released under the BSD license.
+# See LICENSE in the root of the repository for full licensing details.
+"""Unit tests for the :mod:`iris.io.loading` package."""