diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
index 6431295..d5728fa 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ class FileNotebookManager(NotebookManager):
         for name in dir_names:
             os_path = self._get_os_path(name, path)
             if os.path.isdir(os_path) and not is_hidden(os_path, self.notebook_dir)\
-                    and not name.startswith('_'):
+                    and self.should_list(name):
                 try:
                     model = self.get_dir_model(name, path)
                 except IOError:
@@ -233,7 +233,8 @@ class FileNotebookManager(NotebookManager):
         """
         path = path.strip('/')
         notebook_names = self.get_notebook_names(path)
-        notebooks = [self.get_notebook(name, path, content=False) for name in notebook_names]
+        notebooks = [self.get_notebook(name, path, content=False)
+                        for name in notebook_names if self.should_list(name)]
         notebooks = sorted(notebooks, key=sort_key)
         return notebooks
 
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
index a9d397d..f3fb3fc 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
@@ -17,12 +17,13 @@ Authors:
 # Imports
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+from fnmatch import fnmatch
 import itertools
 import os
 
 from IPython.config.configurable import LoggingConfigurable
 from IPython.nbformat import current, sign
-from IPython.utils.traitlets import Instance, Unicode
+from IPython.utils.traitlets import Instance, Unicode, List
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Classes
@@ -36,6 +37,10 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
     def _notary_default(self):
         return sign.NotebookNotary(parent=self)
     
+    hide_globs = List(Unicode, [u'__pycache__'], config=True, help="""
+        Glob patterns to hide in file and directory listings.
+    """)
+
     # NotebookManager API part 1: methods that must be
     # implemented in subclasses.
 
@@ -241,3 +246,6 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
             self.log.warn("Notebook %s/%s is not trusted", path, name)
         self.notary.mark_cells(nb, trusted)
 
+    def should_list(self, name):
+        """Should this file/directory name be displayed in a listing?"""
+        return not any(fnmatch(name, glob) for glob in self.hide_globs)