diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dbf986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# there are too many users who manage to download the source code zip
+# instead of the deliverable zip asset that's shipped. this tells github
+# to generate a blank source code zip.
+* export-ignore