diff --git a/.bazelignore b/.bazelignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..912ca10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.bazelignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# The following directories have their own WORKSPACEs (or contain WORKSPACEs),
+# so they shouldn't be built when in the main part of the rules_pkg repository.
+
+deb_packages/
+examples/