diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # top level files
-
-include MANIFEST.in
-include README.rst
-include CHANGES.rst
-include LICENSE.txt
+include *.rst
+include *.txt
 
 include rhodecode/VERSION
 
+# all python files inside packages
+graft rhodecode
+
 # docs
 recursive-include docs *
 
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ recursive-include rhodecode/public/js *
 recursive-include rhodecode/templates *
 
 # skip any tests files
-recursive-exclude result *
+recursive-exclude rhodecode/api/tests *
 recursive-exclude rhodecode/tests *
 
+recursive-exclude docs/_build *
+recursive-exclude * __pycache__
+recursive-exclude * *.py[co]
+recursive-exclude * .*.sw[a-z]