diff --git a/.dir-locals.el b/.dir-locals.el
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cbdb1f97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dir-locals.el
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+; emacs local configuration settings for notmuch source
+; surmised by dkg on 2010-11-23 13:43:18-0500
+
+((c-mode . ((indent-tabs-mode . t)
+            (tab-width . 8)
+            (c-basic-offset . 4)
+            (c-file-style . "linux"))))