diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 38e85c2..3cb0828 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ module "localhost_function" {
 | environment\_variables | A set of key/value environment variable pairs to assign to the function. | map(string) | `<map>` | no |
 | event\_trigger | A source that fires events in response to a condition in another service. | map(string) | n/a | yes |
 | event\_trigger\_failure\_policy\_retry | A toggle to determine if the function should be retried on failure. | bool | `"false"` | no |
+| files\_to\_exclude\_in\_source\_dir | Specify files to ignore when reading the source_dir | list(string) | `<list>` | no |
 | ingress\_settings | The ingress settings for the function. Allowed values are ALLOW_ALL, ALLOW_INTERNAL_AND_GCLB and ALLOW_INTERNAL_ONLY. Changes to this field will recreate the cloud function. | string | `"ALLOW_ALL"` | no |
 | labels | A set of key/value label pairs to assign to the Cloud Function. | map(string) | `<map>` | no |
 | max\_instances | The maximum number of parallel executions of the function. | number | `"0"` | no |
diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index c86a583..4a0f553 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ data "archive_file" "main" {
   type        = "zip"
   output_path = pathexpand("${var.source_directory}.zip")
   source_dir  = data.null_data_source.wait_for_files.outputs["source_dir"]
+  excludes    = var.files_to_exclude_in_source_dir
 }
 
 resource "google_storage_bucket" "main" {
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 5229486..d5ec6d8 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ variable "source_dependent_files" {
   default     = []
 }
 
+variable "files_to_exclude_in_source_dir" {
+  type        = list(string)
+  description = "Specify files to ignore when reading the source_dir"
+  default     = []
+}
+
 variable "timeout_s" {
   type        = number
   default     = 60