diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py b/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
index a44c10c250..2c514884ba 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-import re
-import os
-import sys
+import fnmatch
 import glob
+import os
+import re
+import sys
 from itertools import dropwhile
 from optparse import make_option
 from subprocess import PIPE, Popen
@@ -56,18 +57,33 @@ def walk(root, topdown=True, onerror=None, followlinks=False):
                     for link_dirpath, link_dirnames, link_filenames in walk(p):
                         yield (link_dirpath, link_dirnames, link_filenames)
 
-def find_files(root, symlinks=False):
+def is_ignored(path, ignore_patterns):
+    """
+    Helper function to check if the given path should be ignored or not.
+    """
+    for pattern in ignore_patterns:
+        if fnmatch.fnmatchcase(path, pattern):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+def find_files(root, ignore_patterns, verbosity, symlinks=False):
     """
     Helper function to get all files in the given root.
     """
     all_files = []
     for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in walk(".", followlinks=symlinks):
-        all_files.extend([(dirpath, f) for f in filenames])
+        for f in filenames:
+            norm_filepath = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(dirpath, f))
+            if is_ignored(norm_filepath, ignore_patterns):
+                if verbosity > 1:
+                    sys.stdout.write('ignoring file %s in %s\n' % (f, dirpath))
+            else:
+                all_files.extend([(dirpath, f)])
     all_files.sort()
     return all_files
 
 def make_messages(locale=None, domain='django', verbosity='1', all=False,
-        extensions=None, symlinks=False):
+        extensions=None, symlinks=False, ignore_patterns=[]):
     """
     Uses the locale directory from the Django SVN tree or an application/
     project to process all
@@ -127,7 +143,7 @@ def make_messages(locale=None, domain='django', verbosity='1', all=False,
         if os.path.exists(potfile):
             os.unlink(potfile)
 
-        for dirpath, file in find_files(".", symlinks=symlinks):
+        for dirpath, file in find_files(".", ignore_patterns, verbosity, symlinks=symlinks):
             file_base, file_ext = os.path.splitext(file)
             if domain == 'djangojs' and file_ext in extensions:
                 if verbosity > 1:
@@ -204,11 +220,15 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
             help='The domain of the message files (default: "django").'),
         make_option('--all', '-a', action='store_true', dest='all',
             default=False, help='Reexamines all source code and templates for new translation strings and updates all message files for all available languages.'),
-        make_option('--symlinks', '-s', action='store_true', dest='symlinks',
-            default=False, help='Follows symlinks to directories when examining source code and templates for translation strings.'),
         make_option('--extension', '-e', dest='extensions',
             help='The file extension(s) to examine (default: ".html", separate multiple extensions with commas, or use -e multiple times)',
             action='append'),
+        make_option('--symlinks', '-s', action='store_true', dest='symlinks',
+            default=False, help='Follows symlinks to directories when examining source code and templates for translation strings.'),
+        make_option('--ignore', '-i', action='append', dest='ignore_patterns',
+            default=[], metavar='PATTERN', help='Ignore files or directories matching this glob-style pattern. Use multiple times to ignore more.'),
+        make_option('--no-default-ignore', action='store_false', dest='use_default_ignore_patterns',
+            default=True, help="Don't ignore the common glob-style patterns 'CVS', '.*' and '*~'."),
     )
     help = "Runs over the entire source tree of the current directory and pulls out all strings marked for translation. It creates (or updates) a message file in the conf/locale (in the django tree) or locale (for project and application) directory."
 
@@ -225,6 +245,10 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         process_all = options.get('all')
         extensions = options.get('extensions')
         symlinks = options.get('symlinks')
+        ignore_patterns = options.get('ignore_patterns')
+        if options.get('use_default_ignore_patterns'):
+            ignore_patterns += ['CVS', '.*', '*~']
+        ignore_patterns = list(set(ignore_patterns))
 
         if domain == 'djangojs':
             extensions = handle_extensions(extensions or ['js'])
@@ -234,4 +258,4 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         if verbosity > 1:
             sys.stdout.write('examining files with the extensions: %s\n' % get_text_list(list(extensions), 'and'))
 
-        make_messages(locale, domain, verbosity, process_all, extensions, symlinks)
+        make_messages(locale, domain, verbosity, process_all, extensions, symlinks, ignore_patterns)
diff --git a/docs/man/django-admin.1 b/docs/man/django-admin.1
index 473809279b..ce3fdb1675 100644
--- a/docs/man/django-admin.1
+++ b/docs/man/django-admin.1
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Executes
 .B sqlall
 for the given app(s) in the current database.
 .TP
-.BI "makemessages [" "\-\-locale=LOCALE" "] [" "\-\-domain=DOMAIN" "] [" "\-\-extension=EXTENSION" "] [" "\-\-all" "] [" "\-\-symlinks" "]"
+.BI "makemessages [" "\-\-locale=LOCALE" "] [" "\-\-domain=DOMAIN" "] [" "\-\-extension=EXTENSION" "] [" "\-\-all" "] [" "\-\-symlinks" "] [" "\-\-ignore=PATTERN" "] [" "\-\-no\-default\-ignore" "]"
 Runs over the entire source tree of the current directory and pulls out all
 strings marked for translation. It creates (or updates) a message file in the
 conf/locale (in the django tree) or locale (for project and application) directory.
@@ -159,6 +159,13 @@ extensions with commas, or use -e multiple times).
 Follows symlinks to directories when examining source code and templates for
 translation strings.
 .TP
+.I \-e, \-\-ignore=PATTERN
+Ignore files or directories matching this glob-style pattern. Use multiple
+times to ignore more.
+.TP
+.I \-e, \-\-no\-default\-ignore
+Don't ignore the common private glob-style patterns 'CVS', '.*' and '*~'.
+.TP
 .I \-a, \-\-all
 Process all available locales when using makemessages..SH "ENVIRONMENT"
 .TP
diff --git a/docs/ref/django-admin.txt b/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
index 641e619fa6..1d02d56507 100644
--- a/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
@@ -483,6 +483,24 @@ Example usage::
 
     django-admin.py makemessages --locale=de --symlinks
 
+.. django-admin-option:: --ignore
+
+Use the ``--ignore`` or ``-i`` option to ignore files or directories matching
+the given `glob-style pattern`_. Use multiple times to ignore more.
+
+These patterns are used by default: ``'CVS'``, ``'.*'``, ``'*~'``
+
+Example usage::
+
+    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=en_US --ignore=apps/* --ignore=secret/*.html
+
+.. _`glob-style pattern`: http://docs.python.org/library/glob.html
+
+.. django-admin-option:: --no-default-ignore
+
+Use the ``--no-default-ignore`` option to disable the default values of
+:djadminopt:`--ignore`.
+
 reset <appname appname ...>
 ---------------------------
 
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/ignore_dir/ignored.html b/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/ignore_dir/ignored.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a296787ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/ignore_dir/ignored.html
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{% load i18n %}
+{% trans "This should be ignored." %}
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/tests.py
index 84eed2edeb..4be31a717b 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/makemessages/tests.py
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ class ExtractorTests(TestCase):
     def assertMsgId(self, msgid, s):
         return self.assert_(re.search('^msgid "%s"' % msgid, s, re.MULTILINE))
 
+    def assertNotMsgId(self, msgid, s):
+        return self.assert_(not re.search('^msgid "%s"' % msgid, s, re.MULTILINE))
+
 
 class JavascriptExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
 
@@ -41,6 +44,20 @@ class JavascriptExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
         self.assertMsgId('This literal should be included.', po_contents)
         self.assertMsgId('This one as well.', po_contents)
 
+
+class IgnoredExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
+
+    PO_FILE='locale/%s/LC_MESSAGES/django.po' % LOCALE
+
+    def test_ignore_option(self):
+        os.chdir(self.test_dir)
+        management.call_command('makemessages', locale=LOCALE, verbosity=0, ignore_patterns=['ignore_dir/*'])
+        self.assert_(os.path.exists(self.PO_FILE))
+        po_contents = open(self.PO_FILE, 'r').read()
+        self.assertMsgId('This literal should be included.', po_contents)
+        self.assertNotMsgId('This should be ignored.', po_contents)
+
+
 class SymlinkExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
 
     PO_FILE='locale/%s/LC_MESSAGES/django.po' % LOCALE