diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8693bfbe994..e3e4048df8e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ _bin/
 user.bazelrc
 *.bak
 /go.work.sum
+**/go.work
diff --git a/go.work b/go.work
deleted file mode 100644
index da35b899b5d..00000000000
--- a/go.work
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-go 1.20
-
-use (
-	.
-	./cmd/acmesolver
-	./cmd/cainjector
-	./cmd/controller
-	./cmd/ctl
-	./cmd/webhook
-	./test/e2e
-	./test/integration
-)
diff --git a/make/tools.mk b/make/tools.mk
index b196d57c69a..be3167c5aca 100644
--- a/make/tools.mk
+++ b/make/tools.mk
@@ -467,3 +467,9 @@ tidy:
 	cd cmd/webhook && go mod tidy
 	cd test/integration && go mod tidy
 	cd test/e2e && go mod tidy
+
+.PHONY: go-workspace
+go-workspace:
+	@rm -f go.work
+	go work init
+	go work use . ./cmd/acmesolver ./cmd/cainjector ./cmd/controller ./cmd/ctl ./cmd/webhook ./test/integration ./test/e2e