diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86fb83f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Don't include anything not needed to build and use the library.
+contrib/        export-ignore
+projects/       export-ignore
+scripts/        export-ignore
+tests/          export-ignore