diff --git a/build/.nativeignore b/build/.nativeignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc88ae0d878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/.nativeignore
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# cleanup rules for native node modules, .gitignore style
+
+fsevents/binding.gyp
+fsevents/fsevents.cc
+fsevents/build/**
+fsevents/src/**
+fsevents/test/**
+!fsevents/**/*.node
+
+vscode-sqlite3/binding.gyp
+vscode-sqlite3/benchmark/**
+vscode-sqlite3/cloudformation/**
+vscode-sqlite3/deps/**
+vscode-sqlite3/test/**
+vscode-sqlite3/build/**
+vscode-sqlite3/src/**
+!vscode-sqlite3/build/Release/*.node
+
+oniguruma/binding.gyp
+oniguruma/build/**
+oniguruma/src/**
+oniguruma/deps/**
+!oniguruma/build/Release/*.node
+!oniguruma/src/*.js
+
+windows-mutex/binding.gyp
+windows-mutex/build/**
+windows-mutex/src/**
+!windows-mutex/**/*.node
+
+native-keymap/binding.gyp
+native-keymap/build/**
+native-keymap/src/**
+native-keymap/deps/**
+!native-keymap/build/Release/*.node
+
+native-is-elevated/binding.gyp
+native-is-elevated/build/**
+native-is-elevated/src/**
+native-is-elevated/deps/**
+!native-is-elevated/build/Release/*.node
+
+native-watchdog/binding.gyp
+native-watchdog/build/**
+native-watchdog/src/**
+!native-watchdog/build/Release/*.node
+
+spdlog/binding.gyp
+spdlog/build/**
+spdlog/deps/**
+spdlog/src/**
+spdlog/test/**
+!spdlog/build/Release/*.node
+
+jschardet/dist/**
+
+windows-foreground-love/binding.gyp
+windows-foreground-love/build/**
+windows-foreground-love/src/**
+!windows-foreground-love/**/*.node
+
+windows-process-tree/binding.gyp
+windows-process-tree/build/**
+windows-process-tree/src/**
+!windows-process-tree/**/*.node
+
+gc-signals/binding.gyp
+gc-signals/build/**
+gc-signals/src/**
+gc-signals/deps/**
+
+!gc-signals/build/Release/*.node
+!gc-signals/src/index.js
+
+keytar/binding.gyp
+keytar/build/**
+keytar/src/**
+keytar/script/**
+keytar/node_modules/**
+!keytar/**/*.node
+
+node-pty/binding.gyp
+node-pty/build/**
+node-pty/src/**
+node-pty/tools/**
+!node-pty/build/Release/*.exe
+!node-pty/build/Release/*.dll
+!node-pty/build/Release/*.node
+
+vscode-nsfw/binding.gyp
+vscode-nsfw/build/**
+vscode-nsfw/src/**
+vscode-nsfw/openpa/**
+vscode-nsfw/includes/**
+!vscode-nsfw/build/Release/*.node
+!vscode-nsfw/**/*.a
+
+vsda/binding.gyp
+vsda/README.md
+vsda/build/**
+vsda/*.bat
+vsda/*.sh
+vsda/*.cpp
+vsda/*.h
+!vsda/build/Release/vsda.node
+
+vscode-windows-ca-certs/**/*
+!vscode-windows-ca-certs/package.json
+!vscode-windows-ca-certs/**/*.node
+
+node-addon-api/**/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
index ae37a72fca0..57ca292ef73 100644
--- a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
+++ b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
@@ -323,28 +323,11 @@ function packageTask(platform, arch, sourceFolderName, destinationFolderName, op
 
 		const deps = gulp.src(depsSrc, { base: '.', dot: true })
 			.pipe(filter(['**', '!**/package-lock.json']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('fsevents', ['binding.gyp', 'fsevents.cc', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'test/**'], ['**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('vscode-sqlite3', ['binding.gyp', 'benchmark/**', 'cloudformation/**', 'deps/**', 'test/**', 'build/**', 'src/**'], ['build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('oniguruma', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'deps/**'], ['build/Release/*.node', 'src/*.js']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('windows-mutex', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**'], ['**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('native-keymap', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'deps/**'], ['build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('native-is-elevated', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'deps/**'], ['build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('native-watchdog', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**'], ['build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('spdlog', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'deps/**', 'src/**', 'test/**'], ['build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('jschardet', ['dist/**']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('windows-foreground-love', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**'], ['**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('windows-process-tree', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**'], ['**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('gc-signals', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'deps/**'], ['build/Release/*.node', 'src/index.js']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('keytar', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'script/**', 'node_modules/**'], ['**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('node-pty', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'tools/**'], ['build/Release/*.exe', 'build/Release/*.dll', 'build/Release/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('vscode-nsfw', ['binding.gyp', 'build/**', 'src/**', 'openpa/**', 'includes/**'], ['build/Release/*.node', '**/*.a']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('vsda', ['binding.gyp', 'README.md', 'build/**', '*.bat', '*.sh', '*.cpp', '*.h'], ['build/Release/vsda.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('vscode-windows-ca-certs', ['**/*'], ['package.json', '**/*.node']))
-			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModule('node-addon-api', ['**/*']))
+			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModules(path.join(__dirname, '.nativeignore')))
 			.pipe(createAsar(path.join(process.cwd(), 'node_modules'), ['**/*.node', '**/vscode-ripgrep/bin/*', '**/node-pty/build/Release/*'], 'app/node_modules.asar'));
 
 		let all = es.merge(
-			packageJsonStream,
+		packageJsonStream,
 			productJsonStream,
 			license,
 			api,
diff --git a/build/lib/util.js b/build/lib/util.js
index 34ee13695fd..6a210d3decc 100644
--- a/build/lib/util.js
+++ b/build/lib/util.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ const es = require("event-stream");
 const debounce = require("debounce");
 const _filter = require("gulp-filter");
 const rename = require("gulp-rename");
-const _ = require("underscore");
 const path = require("path");
 const fs = require("fs");
 const _rimraf = require("rimraf");
@@ -100,22 +99,18 @@ function skipDirectories() {
     });
 }
 exports.skipDirectories = skipDirectories;
-function cleanNodeModule(name, excludes, includes) {
-    const toGlob = (path) => '**/node_modules/' + name + (path ? '/' + path : '');
-    const negate = (str) => '!' + str;
-    const allFilter = _filter(toGlob('**'), { restore: true });
-    const globs = [toGlob('**')].concat(excludes.map(_.compose(negate, toGlob)));
+function cleanNodeModules(rulePath) {
+    const rules = fs.readFileSync(rulePath, 'utf8')
+        .split(/\r?\n/g)
+        .map(line => line.trim())
+        .filter(line => line && !/^#/.test(line));
+    const excludes = rules.filter(line => !/^!/.test(line)).map(line => `!**/node_modules/${line}`);
+    const includes = rules.filter(line => /^!/.test(line)).map(line => `**/node_modules/${line.substr(1)}`);
     const input = es.through();
-    const nodeModuleInput = input.pipe(allFilter);
-    let output = nodeModuleInput.pipe(_filter(globs));
-    if (includes) {
-        const includeGlobs = includes.map(toGlob);
-        output = es.merge(output, nodeModuleInput.pipe(_filter(includeGlobs)));
-    }
-    output = output.pipe(allFilter.restore);
+    const output = es.merge(input.pipe(_filter(['**', ...excludes])), input.pipe(_filter(includes)));
     return es.duplex(input, output);
 }
-exports.cleanNodeModule = cleanNodeModule;
+exports.cleanNodeModules = cleanNodeModules;
 function loadSourcemaps() {
     const input = es.through();
     const output = input
diff --git a/build/lib/util.ts b/build/lib/util.ts
index 44ac9d0dc74..e87c0650ec3 100644
--- a/build/lib/util.ts
+++ b/build/lib/util.ts
@@ -132,23 +132,21 @@ export function skipDirectories(): NodeJS.ReadWriteStream {
 	});
 }
 
-export function cleanNodeModule(name: string, excludes: string[], includes?: string[]): NodeJS.ReadWriteStream {
-	const toGlob = (path: string) => '**/node_modules/' + name + (path ? '/' + path : '');
-	const negate = (str: string) => '!' + str;
+export function cleanNodeModules(rulePath: string): NodeJS.ReadWriteStream {
+	const rules = fs.readFileSync(rulePath, 'utf8')
+		.split(/\r?\n/g)
+		.map(line => line.trim())
+		.filter(line => line && !/^#/.test(line));
 
-	const allFilter = _filter(toGlob('**'), { restore: true });
-	const globs = [toGlob('**')].concat(excludes.map(_.compose(negate, toGlob) as (x: string) => string));
+	const excludes = rules.filter(line => !/^!/.test(line)).map(line => `!**/node_modules/${line}`);
+	const includes = rules.filter(line => /^!/.test(line)).map(line => `**/node_modules/${line.substr(1)}`);
 
 	const input = es.through();
-	const nodeModuleInput = input.pipe(allFilter);
-	let output: NodeJS.ReadWriteStream = nodeModuleInput.pipe(_filter(globs));
+	const output = es.merge(
+		input.pipe(_filter(['**', ...excludes])),
+		input.pipe(_filter(includes))
+	);
 
-	if (includes) {
-		const includeGlobs = includes.map(toGlob);
-		output = es.merge(output, nodeModuleInput.pipe(_filter(includeGlobs)));
-	}
-
-	output = output.pipe(allFilter.restore);
 	return es.duplex(input, output);
 }