diff --git a/codegen/core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/python/codegen/generators/SetupGenerator.java b/codegen/core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/python/codegen/generators/SetupGenerator.java
index 1ca22d665..fedc5b612 100644
--- a/codegen/core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/python/codegen/generators/SetupGenerator.java
+++ b/codegen/core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/python/codegen/generators/SetupGenerator.java
@@ -170,9 +170,10 @@ private static void writePyproject(
                     requires = ["hatchling"]
                     build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
-                    [tool.hatch.build]
+                    [tool.hatch.build.targets.bdist]
                     exclude = [
                       "tests",
+                      "docs",
                     ]
 
                     [tool.pyright]