diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 86373996..030087ad 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -107,11 +107,10 @@ Why an array of hashes? Well, that is so that we can refer to the same node or n
 
 In the example below we have referred to `centos6a` and `centos7b` in all of our tests as they are in `all_nodes`, `non_windows_servers` and `centos_severs`. However we have *left the more specific references to last*. This is because entries in the test_matrix will override entries above them if applicable. Meaning that we are still only testing each class on the two Centos servers once (Because the gem does de-duplication before running the tests), but also making sure we run `roles::frontend_webserver` twice before checking for idempotency.
 
-**functions** In this section we can add functions that we want to mock when running spec tests. Each function takes the following arguments:
+**functions:** In this section we can add functions that we want to mock when running spec tests. Each function takes the following arguments:
+  - **returns** *Optional: A value to return*
 
-- **returns** *Optional: A value to return*
-
-**before and after conditions** We can set `before` and `after` blocks before each spec test. These are usually used when the functions to stub are conditional: stub functionx if the OS is windows, stub functiony if the fact java_installed is true. The facts are available through the `node_facts` hash and the trusted facts as `trusted_facts`.
+**before and after conditions:** We can set `before` and `after` blocks before each spec test. These are usually used when the functions to stub are conditional: stub functionx if the OS is windows, stub functiony if the fact java_installed is true. The facts are available through the `node_facts` hash and the trusted facts as `trusted_facts`.
 
 ```yaml
 before:
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ after:
   - "puts 'Test finished running'"
 ```
 
-**opts** The `opts` section overrides defaults for the `Onceover::Controlrepo` class' `opts` hash.
+**opts:** The `opts` section overrides defaults for the `Onceover::Controlrepo` class' `opts` hash.
 
 ```yaml
 opts:
@@ -140,7 +139,15 @@ opts:
     - 'spec/factsets/*.facts'
 ```
 
-A full example:
+**excluded_dirs:** `excluded_dirs` are not copied during the onceover cache folder creation; adding big folder that are not required by the puppet code to this list will speed up test executions.
+```yaml
+excluded_dirs:
+  - .git
+  - .vagrant
+  - .venv
+```
+
+**A full example:**
 
 ```yaml
 classes:
@@ -203,6 +210,9 @@ functions:
 opts:
   :facts_dirs:
     - spec/factsets
+
+excluded_dirs:
+  - .git
 ```
 
 **Include/Exclude syntax:** This can be used with either `node_groups` or `class_groups` and allows us to save some time by using existing groups to create new ones e.g.
diff --git a/lib/onceover/cli/run.rb b/lib/onceover/cli/run.rb
index 4048b5ce..0b51e170 100644
--- a/lib/onceover/cli/run.rb
+++ b/lib/onceover/cli/run.rb
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ def self.command
 
             run do |opts, args, cmd|
               repo = Onceover::Controlrepo.new(opts)
-              Onceover::Deploy.new.deploy_local(repo, opts)
-              runner = Onceover::Runner.new(repo,Onceover::TestConfig.new(repo.onceover_yaml, opts), :spec)
+              config = Onceover::TestConfig.new(repo.onceover_yaml, opts)
+              Onceover::Deploy.new.deploy_local(repo, config, opts)
+              runner = Onceover::Runner.new(repo, config, :spec)
               runner.prepare!
               runner.run_spec!
             end
diff --git a/lib/onceover/deploy.rb b/lib/onceover/deploy.rb
index 6e0087f5..17e98542 100644
--- a/lib/onceover/deploy.rb
+++ b/lib/onceover/deploy.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # handle local deployments (run r10k in .onceover dir)
 class Onceover
   class Deploy
-    def deploy_local(repo = Onceover::Controlrepo.new, opts = {})
+    def deploy_local(repo, config, opts = {})
       require 'onceover/controlrepo'
       require 'pathname'
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def deploy_local(repo = Onceover::Controlrepo.new, opts = {})
       #
       # If there are more situations like this we can add them to this array as
       # full paths
-      excluded_dirs = []
+      excluded_dirs = config.additional_excluded_dirs.map { |excluded_dir| Pathname.new("#{repo.root}/#{excluded_dir}") }
       excluded_dirs << Pathname.new("#{repo.root}/.onceover")
       excluded_dirs << Pathname.new(ENV['GEM_HOME']) if ENV['GEM_HOME']
 
diff --git a/lib/onceover/testconfig.rb b/lib/onceover/testconfig.rb
index 8ba28f6f..f3bf246b 100644
--- a/lib/onceover/testconfig.rb
+++ b/lib/onceover/testconfig.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class TestConfig
     attr_accessor :before_conditions
     attr_accessor :after_conditions
     attr_accessor :skip_r10k
+    attr_accessor :additional_excluded_dirs
     attr_accessor :force
     attr_accessor :strict_variables
     attr_accessor :formatters
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ def initialize(file, opts = {})
       # Initialise all of the groups
       config['node_groups'].each { |name, members| @node_groups << Onceover::Group.new(name, members) } unless config['node_groups'] == nil
       config['class_groups'].each { |name, members| @class_groups << Onceover::Group.new(name, members) } unless config['class_groups'] == nil
+      @additional_excluded_dirs = config['excluded_dirs'] || []
 
       @filter_tags    = opts[:tags]      ? [opts[:tags].split(',')].flatten : nil
       @filter_classes = opts[:classes]   ? [opts[:classes].split(',')].flatten.map {|x| Onceover::Class.find(x)} : nil