diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 0af4b030ec..ddd18ce9c8 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include LICENSE *.rst *.txt
-recursive-include wagtail *
-recursive-exclude * __pycache__
-recursive-exclude * *.py[co]
+graft wagtail
+prune wagtail/wagtailadmin/static_src
+global-exclude __pycache__
+global-exclude *.py[co]