diff --git a/cubi_tk/sodar/ingest.py b/cubi_tk/sodar/ingest.py
index 2ed09d59..3d43d0e1 100644
--- a/cubi_tk/sodar/ingest.py
+++ b/cubi_tk/sodar/ingest.py
@@ -81,6 +81,13 @@ def setup_argparse(cls, parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
             action="store_true",
             help="Recursively match files in subdirectories. Creates iRODS sub-collections to match directory structure.",
         )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "-e",
+            "--exclude",
+            nargs="+",
+            type=list,
+            help="Exclude files by defining one or multiple glob-style patterns.",
+        )
         parser.add_argument(
             "-K",
             "--remote-checksums",
@@ -276,11 +283,15 @@ def build_file_list(self):
 
             if src.is_dir():
                 paths = abspath.glob("**/*" if self.args.recursive else "*")
+                excludes = self.args.exclude
                 for p in paths:
+                    if excludes and any([p.match(e) for e in excludes]):
+                        continue
                     if p.is_file() and not p.suffix.lower() == ".md5":
                         output_paths.append({"spath": p, "ipath": p.relative_to(abspath)})
             else:
-                output_paths.append({"spath": src, "ipath": Path(src.name)})
+                if not any([src.match(e) for e in excludes if e]):
+                    output_paths.append({"spath": src, "ipath": Path(src.name)})
         return output_paths
 
     def build_jobs(self, source_paths) -> typing.Set[TransferJob]:
diff --git a/tests/test_sodar_ingest.py b/tests/test_sodar_ingest.py
index da2ab234..bc5d05d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_sodar_ingest.py
+++ b/tests/test_sodar_ingest.py
@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ class DummyArgs(object):
     fs.create_symlink("/loop_src2", "/loop_src")
 
     args = DummyArgs()
-    args.sources = ["broken_link", "not_here", "loop_src", "testdir"]
+    args.sources = ["broken_link", "not_here", "loop_src", "testdir", "testdir", "file5"]
     args.recursive = True
+    args.exclude = ["file4", "file5"]
     dummy = MagicMock()
     args_mock = PropertyMock(return_value=args)
     type(dummy).args = args_mock
@@ -86,6 +87,8 @@ class DummyArgs(object):
     fs.create_file("/testdir/file1.md5")
     fs.create_file("/testdir/subdir/file2")
     fs.create_file("/file3")
+    fs.create_file("/testdir/file4")
+    fs.create_file("/file5")
     fs.create_symlink("/testdir/file3", "/file3")
 
     paths = SodarIngest.build_file_list(dummy)
@@ -120,6 +123,8 @@ class DummyArgs(object):
         "ipath": Path("subdir/file2"),
     } not in paths
     assert {"spath": Path("/testdir/file3"), "ipath": Path("file3")} in paths
+    assert {"spath": Path("/testdir/file4"), "ipath": Path("file4")} not in paths
+    assert {"spath": Path("file5"), "ipath": Path("file5")} not in paths
 
 
 @patch("cubi_tk.sodar.ingest.sorted")