diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 699581b44..a36a733d3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,5 @@ doc/gnupg.info*
 doc/stamp-vti
 doc/version.texi
 po/gnupg2.pot
+*.o
+*.a
diff --git a/po/.gitattributes b/po/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17b178c0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/po/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# You should add
+#[filter "cleanpo"]
+#        clean = "awk '/^\"POT-Creation-Date:/&&!s{s=1;next};!/^#: /{print}'"
+# to your config file.
+
+/??.po     filter=cleanpo
+/??_??.po  filter=cleanpo