diff --git a/tensorflow/java/src/main/java/org/tensorflow/examples/BUILD b/tensorflow/java/src/main/java/org/tensorflow/examples/BUILD
index 5f9aefef4ce..a7fc8588359 100644
--- a/tensorflow/java/src/main/java/org/tensorflow/examples/BUILD
+++ b/tensorflow/java/src/main/java/org/tensorflow/examples/BUILD
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ filegroup(
         exclude = [
             "**/METADATA",
             "**/OWNERS",
+            # Exclude any .class files that might have been generated
+            # by manual invocations of javac as described in
+            # tensorflow/java/README.md
+            "**/*.class",
         ],
     ),
     visibility = ["//tensorflow:__subpackages__"],