diff --git a/ghost/core/core/server/data/importer/import-manager.js b/ghost/core/core/server/data/importer/import-manager.js
index a7b0053564..d1d4891785 100644
--- a/ghost/core/core/server/data/importer/import-manager.js
+++ b/ghost/core/core/server/data/importer/import-manager.js
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ class ImportManager {
             //        in the importer, so we need to keep it as general "content" unless
             //        it becomes a strict requirement
             directories: ['media', 'content'],
+            ignoreRootFolderFiles: true,
             extensions: config.get('uploads').media.extensions,
             contentTypes: config.get('uploads').media.contentTypes,
             contentPath: config.getContentPath('media'),
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ class ImportManager {
             //        in the importer, so we need to keep it as general "content" unless
             //        it becomes a strict requirement
             directories: ['files', 'content'],
+            ignoreRootFolderFiles: true,
             extensions: config.get('uploads').files.extensions,
             contentTypes: config.get('uploads').files.contentTypes,
             contentPath: config.getContentPath('files'),
diff --git a/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/lib/ImporterContentFileHandler.js b/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/lib/ImporterContentFileHandler.js
index a7bbafc032..ca44dab55c 100644
--- a/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/lib/ImporterContentFileHandler.js
+++ b/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/lib/ImporterContentFileHandler.js
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class ImporterContentFileHandler {
      * @param {Object} deps dependencies
      * @param {'media' | 'files' | 'images'} deps.type type of content file
      * @param {string[]} deps.extensions file extensions to search for
+     * @param {boolean} [deps.ignoreRootFolderFiles] whether to ignore files in the root folder
      * @param {string[]} deps.contentTypes content types to search for
      * @param {string[]} deps.directories directories to search for content files
      * @param {string} deps.contentPath path to the destination content directory
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ class ImporterContentFileHandler {
         this.directories = deps.directories;
         this.extensions = deps.extensions;
         this.contentTypes = deps.contentTypes;
+        this.ignoreRootFolderFiles = deps.ignoreRootFolderFiles;
         this.storage = deps.storage;
         this.#contentPath = deps.contentPath;
         this.urlUtils = deps.urlUtils;
@@ -47,6 +49,12 @@ class ImporterContentFileHandler {
             return new RegExp('^' + dir + '/');
         });
 
+        if (this.ignoreRootFolderFiles) {
+            files = _.filter(files, function (file) {
+                return file.name.indexOf('/') !== -1;
+            });
+        }
+
         // normalize the directory structure
         const filesContentPath = this.#contentPath;
         files = _.map(files, function (file) {
diff --git a/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/test/ImporterContentFileHandler.test.js b/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/test/ImporterContentFileHandler.test.js
index aefbe872de..98373698e3 100644
--- a/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/test/ImporterContentFileHandler.test.js
+++ b/ghost/importer-handler-content-files/test/ImporterContentFileHandler.test.js
@@ -88,5 +88,41 @@ describe('ImporterContentFileHandler', function () {
             assert.equal(files[0].targetDir, '/var/www/ghost/content/media');
             assert.equal(files[0].newPath, '//blog/content/media/1.mp4');
         });
+
+        it('ignores files in root folder', async function () {
+            const contentFileImporter = new ImporterContentFileHandler({
+                storage: {
+                    staticFileURLPrefix: 'content/media',
+                    getUniqueFileName: (file, targetDir) => Promise.resolve(targetDir + '/' + file.name)
+                },
+                contentPath: '/var/www/ghost/content/media',
+                ignoreRootFolderFiles: true,
+                urlUtils: {
+                    getSubdir: () => 'blog',
+                    urlJoin: (...args) => args.join('/')
+                }
+            });
+
+            const files = [{
+                name: 'root.mp4'
+            }, {
+                name: 'content/media/1.mp4'
+            }];
+
+            await contentFileImporter.loadFile(files);
+
+            // @NOTE: the root file is ignored. It's a weird test because ideally the file
+            //        should be removed completely from the list, but the importer works
+            //        by modifying the list in place and it's not easy to remove the file
+            assert.equal(files[0].name, 'root.mp4');
+            assert.equal(files[0].originalPath, undefined);
+            assert.equal(files[0].targetDir, undefined);
+            assert.equal(files[0].newPath, undefined);
+
+            assert.equal(files[1].name, '1.mp4');
+            assert.equal(files[1].originalPath, 'content/media/1.mp4');
+            assert.equal(files[1].targetDir, '/var/www/ghost/content/media');
+            assert.equal(files[1].newPath, '//blog/content/media/1.mp4');
+        });
     });
 });