diff --git a/docs/reference/pyproject-settings.rst b/docs/reference/pyproject-settings.rst
index b7806f569..78a9cfc33 100644
--- a/docs/reference/pyproject-settings.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/pyproject-settings.rst
@@ -63,6 +63,21 @@ use them and examples.
 
    Extra arguments to be passed to the ``meson install`` command.
 
+.. option:: tool.meson-python.wheel.exclude
+
+   List of glob patterns matching paths of files that must be excluded from
+   the Python wheel. The accepted glob patterns are the ones implemented by
+   the Python :mod:`fnmatch` with case sensitive matching. The paths to be
+   matched are as they appear in the Meson introspection data, namely they are
+   rooted in one of the Meson install locations: ``{bindir}``, ``{datadir}``,
+   ``{includedir}``, ``{libdir_shared}``, ``{libdir_static}``, et cetera.
+
+   This configuration setting is measure of last resort to exclude installed
+   files from a Python wheel. It is to be used when the project includes
+   subprojects that do not allow fine control on the installed files. Better
+   solutions include the use of Meson install tags and excluding subprojects
+   to be installed via :option:`tool.meson-python.args.install`.
+
 
 __ https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/stable.html?highlight=limited%20api#stable-application-binary-interface
 __ https://mesonbuild.com/Python-module.html#extension_module
diff --git a/mesonpy/__init__.py b/mesonpy/__init__.py
index 35ef729af..fca444049 100644
--- a/mesonpy/__init__.py
+++ b/mesonpy/__init__.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import contextlib
 import copy
 import difflib
+import fnmatch
 import functools
 import importlib.machinery
 import io
@@ -111,13 +112,27 @@ class InvalidLicenseExpression(Exception):  # type: ignore[no-redef]
 }
 
 
-def _map_to_wheel(sources: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]) -> DefaultDict[str, List[Tuple[pathlib.Path, str]]]:
+def _compile_patterns(patterns: List[str]) -> Callable[[str], bool]:
+    if not patterns:
+        return lambda x: False
+    func = re.compile('|'.join(fnmatch.translate(os.path.normpath(p)) for p in patterns)).match
+    return typing.cast('Callable[[str], bool]', func)
+
+
+def _map_to_wheel(
+    sources: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]],
+    exclude: List[str]
+) -> DefaultDict[str, List[Tuple[pathlib.Path, str]]]:
     """Map files to the wheel, organized by wheel installation directory."""
     wheel_files: DefaultDict[str, List[Tuple[pathlib.Path, str]]] = collections.defaultdict(list)
     packages: Dict[str, str] = {}
+    excluded = _compile_patterns(exclude)
 
     for key, group in sources.items():
         for src, target in group.items():
+            if excluded(target['destination']):
+                continue
+
             destination = pathlib.Path(target['destination'])
             anchor = destination.parts[0]
             dst = pathlib.Path(*destination.parts[1:])
@@ -581,6 +596,9 @@ def _string_or_path(value: Any, name: str) -> str:
         'args': _table({
             name: _strings for name in _MESON_ARGS_KEYS
         }),
+        'wheel': _table({
+            'exclude': _strings,
+        }),
     })
 
     table = pyproject.get('tool', {}).get('meson-python', {})
@@ -823,6 +841,9 @@ def __init__(
         # from the package, make sure the developers acknowledge this.
         self._allow_windows_shared_libs = pyproject_config.get('allow-windows-internal-shared-libs', False)
 
+        # Files to be excluded from the wheel
+        self._excluded_files = pyproject_config.get('wheel', {}).get('exclude', [])
+
     def _run(self, cmd: Sequence[str]) -> None:
         """Invoke a subprocess."""
         # Flush the line to ensure that the log line with the executed
@@ -906,7 +927,7 @@ def _manifest(self) -> DefaultDict[str, List[Tuple[pathlib.Path, str]]]:
                 sources[key][target] = details
 
         # Map Meson installation locations to wheel paths.
-        return _map_to_wheel(sources)
+        return _map_to_wheel(sources, self._excluded_files)
 
     @property
     def _meson_name(self) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/packages/subproject/pyproject.toml b/tests/packages/subproject/pyproject.toml
index 79b6ea07f..45d204ba7 100644
--- a/tests/packages/subproject/pyproject.toml
+++ b/tests/packages/subproject/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,3 +5,8 @@
 [build-system]
 build-backend = 'mesonpy'
 requires = ['meson-python']
+
+[tool.meson-python.wheel]
+# Meson versions before 1.3.0 install data files in {datadir}/{project name}/,
+# later versions install in the more correct {datadir}/{dubproject name}/
+exclude = ['{datadir}/*/data.txt']
diff --git a/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/data.txt b/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/data.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cfa9c9661
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/data.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+excluded via tool.meson-python.wheel.exclude
diff --git a/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/meson.build b/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/meson.build
index a7567f449..34c6b7508 100644
--- a/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/meson.build
+++ b/tests/packages/subproject/subprojects/dep/meson.build
@@ -7,3 +7,5 @@ project('dep')
 py = import('python').find_installation()
 
 py.install_sources('dep.py')
+
+install_data('data.txt')