diff --git a/contrib/build-rpm b/contrib/build-rpm
index 9eca5042..95966849 100644
--- a/contrib/build-rpm
+++ b/contrib/build-rpm
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ cp -sR `pwd`/$currdir $tmpdir/$builddir || exit 1
 # Remove any build files from the temporary tarball directory
 [ -f $tmpdir/$builddir/Makefile ] && make -C $tmpdir/$builddir distclean
 
-(cd $tmpdir && tar czfh ${builddir}.tar.gz $builddir)
+EXCLUDE="--exclude .hg*"
+(cd $tmpdir && tar czfh ${builddir}.tar.gz $EXCLUDE $builddir)
 
 [ "`rpmbuild --version 2> /dev/null`" ] && RPM=rpmbuild || RPM=rpm
 $RPM --define "_sourcedir `pwd`/$tmpdir" -ba $currdir/e2fsprogs.spec || exit $?