diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 09637b6049..67657a649c 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -625,6 +625,7 @@ icu4j/tools/build/icu4j49.api3.gz -text
 icu4j/tools/build/icu4j50.api3.gz -text
 icu4j/tools/build/icu4j51.api3.gz -text
 icu4j/tools/build/icu4j52.api3.gz -text
+icu4j/tools/build/icu4j53.api3.gz -text
 icu4j/tools/build/manifest.stub -text
 icu4j/tools/misc/.settings/org.eclipse.core.resources.prefs -text
 icu4j/tools/misc/manifest.stub -text
diff --git a/icu4j/tools/build/icu4j53.api3.gz b/icu4j/tools/build/icu4j53.api3.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..27eda46805
--- /dev/null
+++ b/icu4j/tools/build/icu4j53.api3.gz
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
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+oid sha256:c4cb68179bb438effc12aa1b3c45c4efda6c319a4aefd34f4e1eeebe5650bc8f
+size 50782