diff --git a/lib/Qgoda.pm b/lib/Qgoda.pm
index 4595f8e..25cb4ae 100644
--- a/lib/Qgoda.pm
+++ b/lib/Qgoda.pm
@@ -985,15 +985,21 @@ sub __prune {
 	# Sort the output files by length first.  That ensures that we do a
 	# depth first clean-up.
 	my @outfiles = sort {
-	   length($b) <=> length($a)
+		length($b) <=> length($a)
 	} @{$self->{__outfiles}};
 
 	my $logger = $self->{__logger};
 	my %directories;
 
+	my $outdir = $self->config->{paths}->{site};
+	my $matcher = $self->config->{__q_precious};
 	my $deleted = 0;
 	foreach my $outfile (@outfiles) {
-		if ($directories{$outfile} || $site->getArtefact($outfile)) {
+		my $reloutfile = abs2rel $outfile, $outdir;
+		if ($matcher->match($reloutfile)) {
+			$logger->debug(__x("not pruning precious file '{outfile}'",
+			                   outfile => $outfile));
+		} elsif ($directories{$outfile} || $site->getArtefact($outfile)) {
 			# Mark the containing directory as generated.
 			my ($volume, $directory, $filename) = splitpath $outfile;
 			my $container = catpath $volume, $directory, '';
diff --git a/lib/Qgoda/Config.pm b/lib/Qgoda/Config.pm
index ddb7383..7ba9aad 100644
--- a/lib/Qgoda/Config.pm
+++ b/lib/Qgoda/Config.pm
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ use Scalar::Util qw(reftype looks_like_number);
 use File::Globstar qw(quotestar);
 use File::Globstar::ListMatch;
 use Storable qw(dclone);
+use Cwd qw(realpath);
 use Encode;
 use boolean;
 use Qgoda::Util qw(read_file empty yaml_error merge_data lowercase
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ sub new {
 	# Clean up certain variables or overwrite them unconditionally.
 	$config->{srcdir} = absolute_path;
 	$config->{paths}->{site} =
-		canonical_path(absolute_path($config->{paths}->{site}));
+		canonical_path(absolute_path(realpath($config->{paths}->{site})));
 	$config->{paths}->{views} = canonical_path($config->{paths}->{views});
 
 	$config->{po}->{tt2} = [$config->{paths}->{views}]
@@ -199,6 +200,7 @@ sub new {
 
 	push @exclude, @config_exclude;
 	push @exclude_watch, @config_exclude_watch;
+	my @precious = @{$config->{precious} || []};
 
 	my $outdir = abs2rel($self->{outdir}, $self->{srcdir});
 	if ($outdir !~ m{^\.\./}) {
@@ -214,6 +216,10 @@ sub new {
 			\@exclude_watch,
 			ignoreCase => !$self->{'case-sensitive'}
 		);
+		$self->{__q_precious} = File::Globstar::ListMatch->new(
+			\@precious,
+			ignoreCase => !$self->{'case-sensitive'}
+		);
 
 		$self->{defaults} = $self->__compileDefaults($self->{defaults});
 	}
diff --git a/lib/Qgoda/Schema.pm b/lib/Qgoda/Schema.pm
index e2d46b1..4eb4610 100644
--- a/lib/Qgoda/Schema.pm
+++ b/lib/Qgoda/Schema.pm
@@ -358,6 +358,15 @@ sub config {
 					}
 				}
 			},
+			precious => {
+				description => __"List of file name patterns that should not"
+							   . "be deleted in the output directory.",
+				type => 'array',
+				items => {
+					type => 'string'
+				},
+				default => []
+			},
 			private => {
 				description => __"Site-specific variables.  You can also choose"
 				               . " the namespace 'site' if you prefer.",
diff --git a/t/config-default.t b/t/config-default.t
index 0749742..8cb5e87 100644
--- a/t/config-default.t
+++ b/t/config-default.t
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ po:
 post-processors:
   modules: []
   options: {}
+precious: []
 processors:
   chains:
     html: