diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f90d5f4..9637684 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -29,11 +29,16 @@
 /condefs.h
 /conftest.cpp
 /conftest.err
-/m4/*
 *.Po
 .deps
 .dirstamp
 *.tar.gz
+# Let autoconf automatically copy these files
+/m4/libtool.m4
+/m4/ltoptions.m4
+/m4/ltsugar.m4
+/m4/ltversion.m4
+/m4/lt~obsolete.m4
 
 # Doxygen output
 /doc/html