diff --git a/modules/distribution/src/main/assembly/bin-assembly.xml b/modules/distribution/src/main/assembly/bin-assembly.xml
index 334b7df..c970484 100755
--- a/modules/distribution/src/main/assembly/bin-assembly.xml
+++ b/modules/distribution/src/main/assembly/bin-assembly.xml
@@ -153,7 +153,10 @@
                 <include>yahoorestsearch/**/*</include>            
             </includes>
             <excludes>
-                <exclude>**/*.iml</exclude>
+                <!-- The release process builds the binary distribution from a clean checkout,
+                     but we still need to exclude files that are generated by the build
+                     (.settings is generated by eclipse-settings-maven-plugin). -->
+                <exclude>**/.settings/</exclude>
                 <exclude>**/target/</exclude>
             </excludes>
         </fileSet>