diff --git a/poetry/masonry/builders/builder.py b/poetry/masonry/builders/builder.py
index af1a05a29d4..97f9bb70fd7 100644
--- a/poetry/masonry/builders/builder.py
+++ b/poetry/masonry/builders/builder.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 from clikit.api.io.flags import VERY_VERBOSE
 
 from poetry.utils._compat import Path
-from poetry.utils._compat import basestring
 from poetry.utils._compat import glob
 from poetry.utils._compat import lru_cache
 from poetry.utils._compat import to_str
@@ -84,15 +83,6 @@ def find_excluded_files(self):  # type: () -> Set[str]
 
         explicitely_excluded = set()
         for excluded_glob in self._package.exclude:
-            excluded_path = Path(self._path, excluded_glob)
-
-            try:
-                is_dir = excluded_path.is_dir()
-            except OSError:
-                # On Windows, testing if a path with a glob is a directory will raise an OSError
-                is_dir = False
-            if is_dir:
-                excluded_glob = Path(excluded_glob, "**/*")
 
             for excluded in glob(
                 Path(self._path, excluded_glob).as_posix(), recursive=True
@@ -112,10 +102,18 @@ def find_excluded_files(self):  # type: () -> Set[str]
         return result
 
     def is_excluded(self, filepath):  # type: (Union[str, Path]) -> bool
-        if not isinstance(filepath, basestring):
-            filepath = filepath.as_posix()
+        exclude_path = Path(filepath)
+
+        while True:
+            if exclude_path.as_posix() in self.find_excluded_files():
+                return True
+
+            if len(exclude_path.parts) > 1:
+                exclude_path = exclude_path.parent
+            else:
+                break
 
-        return filepath in self.find_excluded_files()
+        return False
 
     def find_files_to_add(self, exclude_build=True):  # type: (bool) -> list
         """
diff --git a/poetry/masonry/builders/wheel.py b/poetry/masonry/builders/wheel.py
index 058679edb4e..24efb2f7d7d 100644
--- a/poetry/masonry/builders/wheel.py
+++ b/poetry/masonry/builders/wheel.py
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@ def _build(self, wheel):
                 return
 
             lib = lib[0]
-            excluded = self.find_excluded_files()
+
             for pkg in lib.glob("**/*"):
-                if pkg.is_dir() or pkg in excluded:
+                if pkg.is_dir() or self.is_excluded(pkg):
                     continue
 
                 rel_path = str(pkg.relative_to(lib))
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ def _build(self, wheel):
                 self._add_file(wheel, pkg, rel_path)
 
     def _copy_module(self, wheel):
-        excluded = self.find_excluded_files()
+
         to_add = []
 
         for include in self._module.includes:
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ def _copy_module(self, wheel):
                 else:
                     rel_file = file.relative_to(self._path)
 
-                if rel_file.as_posix() in excluded:
+                if self.is_excluded(rel_file.as_posix()):
                     continue
 
                 if file.suffix == ".pyc":
diff --git a/poetry/vcs/git.py b/poetry/vcs/git.py
index e3138b77fb3..06ff9d03b23 100644
--- a/poetry/vcs/git.py
+++ b/poetry/vcs/git.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def get_ignored_files(self, folder=None):  # type: (...) -> list
         args += ["ls-files", "--others", "-i", "--exclude-standard"]
         output = self.run(*args)
 
-        return output.split("\n")
+        return output.strip().split("\n")
 
     def remote_urls(self, folder=None):  # type: (...) -> dict
         output = self.run(
diff --git a/tests/masonry/builders/fixtures/exclude_nested_data_toml/pyproject.toml b/tests/masonry/builders/fixtures/exclude_nested_data_toml/pyproject.toml
index 21efcba30eb..421d32f43dc 100644
--- a/tests/masonry/builders/fixtures/exclude_nested_data_toml/pyproject.toml
+++ b/tests/masonry/builders/fixtures/exclude_nested_data_toml/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ license = "MIT"
 
 readme = "README.rst"
 
-exclude = ["my_package/data/", "**/*/item*"]
+exclude = ["**/data/", "**/*/item*"]
 
 homepage = "https://poetry.eustace.io/"
 repository = "https://github.com/sdispater/poetry"