diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 89faeb36f..323aee3b5 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-*gitignore export-ignore
+.build.yml export-ignore
 .gitattributes export-ignore
-.gitmodules export-ignore
+.gitignore export-ignore
+.mailmap export-ignore
+.github export-ignore
 .gitlab-ci.yml export-ignore
+.gitmodules export-ignore
 .travis.yml export-ignore
-.github export-ignore
 releasenotes export-ignore
 doc/*.png export-ignore
 doc/help-output.txt export-ignore
@@ -12,5 +14,5 @@ doc/Notes export-ignore
 doc/old-theme-convert-output.rasi export-ignore
 doc/test_xr.txt export-ignore
 doc/create_screenshot.sh export-ignore
-doc/README.md export-ignore
+mkdocs export-ignore
 script/*.jpg export-ignore
diff --git a/meson-dist-script b/meson-dist-script
index 05e126f06..38052e734 100644
--- a/meson-dist-script
+++ b/meson-dist-script
@@ -14,3 +14,10 @@ rm -rf build
 
 # configure script
 autoreconf -i
+rm -rf autom4te.cache
+
+# remove unwanted files in submodules
+# (.gitattributes only applies to the root repo)
+rm -f subprojects/*/.mailmap
+rm -f subprojects/*/.gitignore
+rm -f subprojects/*/.travis.yml