diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 44aa7c07c4a..8af0aa9bc17 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ include examples/ansible.cfg
 include lib/ansible/module_utils/powershell.ps1
 recursive-include lib/ansible/modules *
 recursive-include docs *
-recursive-include plugins *
 include Makefile
 include VERSION
 include MANIFEST.in