diff --git a/src/assembly/distribution.xml b/src/assembly/distribution.xml
index 70e761e8e4..7596ee01b1 100644
--- a/src/assembly/distribution.xml
+++ b/src/assembly/distribution.xml
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@
 		<fileSet>
 			<!-- adds sample projects distribution archive under the 'samples' directory -->
 			<directory>spring-integration-samples</directory>
+			<excludes>
+				<exclude>*/target/</exclude>
+			</excludes>
 			<outputDirectory>samples</outputDirectory>
 		</fileSet>
 	</fileSets>