diff --git a/swh/scanner/scanner.py b/swh/scanner/scanner.py
--- a/swh/scanner/scanner.py
+++ b/swh/scanner/scanner.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 import asyncio
+import os
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterable
 
 import aiohttp
@@ -70,6 +71,24 @@
         raise Exception(f"policy '{policy}' not found")
 
 
+# here is a set of directory we should disregard
+COMMON_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS = [
+    b'.bzr',
+    b'.coverage',
+    b'*.egg-info',
+    b'.eggs',
+    b'.git',
+    b'.hg',
+    b'.mypy_cache',
+    b'__pycache__',
+    b'.svn',
+    b'.tox',
+]
+COMMON_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS.extend([
+    b'*/' + p for p in COMMON_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS
+])
+
+
 def scan(
     config: Dict[str, Any],
     root_path: str,
@@ -82,6 +101,7 @@
     """Scan a source code project to discover files and directories already
     present in the archive"""
     converted_patterns = [pattern.encode() for pattern in exclude_patterns]
+    converted_patterns.extend(COMMON_EXCLUDE_PATTERNS)
     source_tree = model_of_dir(root_path.encode(), converted_patterns)
 
     nodes_data = MerkleNodeInfo()