diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0991629..061901a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ You can use the `-e` option to exclude some files from the pattern, so to exclud
 copyfiles "**/*.test.js" -f ./foo/**/*.js out -e
 ```
 
+> [!NOTE]
+> By default the `.git/` and `node_modules/` directories will be excluded.
+
 Other options include
 
 - `-a` or `--all` which includes files that start with a dot.
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index c42f3fa..c2924b9 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -158,10 +158,12 @@ export function copyfiles(paths: string[], options: CopyFileOptions, callback?:
     createDir(dirname(outPath));
   }
 
-  const globOptions: GlobOptions = {};
-  if (Array.isArray(options.exclude) && options.exclude.length > 0) {
-    globOptions.ignore = options.exclude;
-  }
+  const excludeGlobs = [
+    '**/.git/**',
+    '**/node_modules/**',
+    ...(Array.isArray(options.exclude) && options.exclude.length > 0 ? options.exclude : []),
+  ];
+  const globOptions: GlobOptions = { ignore: excludeGlobs };
   if (options.all) {
     globOptions.dot = true;
   }