diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3f27cdc00f..62f3a96e30 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ build/_vendor/pkg
 /build/bin/
 /geth*.zip
 
+# used by the build/ci.go archive + upload tool
+/geth*.tar.gz
+
 # travis
 profile.tmp
 profile.cov