diff --git a/lib/config.js b/lib/config.js
index de44670..7eea2b2 100644
--- a/lib/config.js
+++ b/lib/config.js
@@ -161,30 +161,35 @@ module.exports = class Config {
 
     // core ignores
     opts.ignore.unshift(
-      '**/node_modules/**', // node_modules folder
-      `${this.output.path}/**/*`, // anything in the public folder
-      '**/.git/**', // any git content
-      '**/package.json', // the primary package.json file
+      'node_modules/**', // node_modules folder
+      `${opts.outputDir}/**`, // anything in the public folder
+      '.git/**', // any git content
+      'package.json', // the primary package.json file
       '**/.DS_Store', // any dumb DS Store file
-      `${this.context}/app.js`, // primary config
-      `${this.context}/app.*.js` // any environment config
+      'app.js', // primary config
+      'app.*.js' // any environment config
     )
 
+    // Loader excludes use absolute paths for some reason, so we add the context
+    // to the beginning of the path so users can input them as relative to root.
+    opts.ignore = opts.ignore.map((i) => path.join(this.context, i))
+    const reIgnores = opts.ignore.map(mmToRe)
+
     const spikeLoaders = [
       {
-        exclude: opts.ignore.map(mmToRe),
+        exclude: reIgnores,
         loader: 'css-loader!postcss-loader',
         _core: 'css'
       }, {
-        exclude: opts.ignore.map(mmToRe),
+        exclude: reIgnores,
         loader: 'babel-loader',
         _core: 'js'
       }, {
-        exclude: opts.ignore.map(mmToRe),
+        exclude: reIgnores,
         loader: 'jade-static-loader',
         _core: 'jade'
       }, {
-        exclude: opts.ignore.map(mmToRe),
+        exclude: reIgnores,
         loader: 'source-loader',
         _core: 'static'
       }
diff --git a/test/ignores.js b/test/ignores.js
index 8cb851a..650ef4c 100644
--- a/test/ignores.js
+++ b/test/ignores.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const path = require('path')
 const {compileFixture, fs} = require('./_helpers')
 
 test('does not compile ignored files', (t) => {
-  return compileFixture(t, 'ignores', { ignore: ['**/layout.jade'] }).tap(({publicPath}) => {
+  return compileFixture(t, 'ignores', { ignore: ['layout.jade'] }).tap(({publicPath}) => {
     return fs.access(path.join(publicPath, 'index.html'))
   }).tap(({publicPath}) => {
     return fs.access(path.join(publicPath, 'about.html'))