diff --git a/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/__tests__/local-test.ts b/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/__tests__/local-test.ts
index abb9796e8b..9e7622e702 100644
--- a/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/__tests__/local-test.ts
+++ b/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/__tests__/local-test.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,32 @@ describe(Ignore, () => {
     const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
     expect(ignore.ignores('.git')).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it('applies ignore rules from .gitignore files in dot-directories', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON(
+      {
+        '.eas/.gitignore': 'secrets.txt\n',
+      },
+      '/root'
+    );
+
+    const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
+    expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/secrets.txt')).toBe(true);
+    expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/other.txt')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('does not throw an error if there is a trailing backslash in the gitignore', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON(
+      {
+        '.gitignore': 'dir\\',
+      },
+      '/root'
+    );
+
+    const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
+    expect(() => ignore.ignores('dir/test')).not.toThrowError();
+  });
+
   describe('for checking', () => {
     it('does not necessarily ignore .git', async () => {
       vol.fromJSON({}, '/root');
@@ -100,15 +126,45 @@ describe(Ignore, () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('does not throw an error if there is a trailing backslash in the gitignore', async () => {
-    vol.fromJSON(
-      {
-        '.gitignore': 'dir\\',
-      },
-      '/root'
-    );
+  describe('negation patterns', () => {
+    it('does not ignore a path negated by a directory pattern in the same .gitignore', async () => {
+      vol.fromJSON(
+        {
+          '.gitignore': '.eas/*\n!.eas/build/\n',
+        },
+        '/root'
+      );
 
-    const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
-    expect(() => ignore.ignores('dir/test')).not.toThrowError();
+      const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
+      expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/build/')).toBe(false);
+      expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/build/foo.txt')).toBe(false);
+      expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/other/')).toBe(true);
+      expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/other.txt')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('ignores a file inside a directory matched by a glob with no negation', async () => {
+      vol.fromJSON(
+        {
+          '.gitignore': '.eas/*\n',
+        },
+        '/root'
+      );
+
+      const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
+      expect(ignore.ignores('.eas/build/foo.txt')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('does not un-ignore a file whose name matches a directory negation pattern', async () => {
+      vol.fromJSON(
+        {
+          '.gitignore': 'build\n!build/\n',
+        },
+        '/root'
+      );
+
+      const ignore = await Ignore.createForCopyingAsync('/root');
+      expect(ignore.ignores('build')).toBe(true);
+      expect(ignore.ignores('build/')).toBe(false);
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/local.ts b/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/local.ts
index 2e8abf47c2..68ad30db86 100644
--- a/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/local.ts
+++ b/packages/eas-cli/src/vcs/local.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ node_modules
         cwd: this.rootDir,
         ignore: ['node_modules'],
         followSymbolicLinks: false,
+        dot: true,
       })
     )
       // ensure that parent dir is before child directories
@@ -84,12 +85,15 @@ node_modules
   }
 
   public ignores(relativePath: string): boolean {
+    let ignored = false;
     for (const [prefix, ignore] of this.ignoreMapping) {
-      if (relativePath.startsWith(prefix) && ignore.ignores(relativePath.slice(prefix.length))) {
-        return true;
-      }
+      if (!relativePath.startsWith(prefix)) continue;
+      const slicedPath = relativePath.slice(prefix.length);
+      const result = ignore.test(slicedPath);
+      if (result.ignored) ignored = true;
+      else if (result.unignored) ignored = false;
     }
-    return false;
+    return ignored;
   }
 }
 
@@ -115,7 +119,10 @@ export async function makeShallowCopyAsync(_src: string, dst: string): Promise<v
         return true;
       }
       const relativePath = path.relative(src, srcFilePath);
-      const shouldCopyTheItem = !ignore.ignores(relativePath);
+
+      // Append a trailing slash for directories so patterns like !dir/ match correctly.
+      const isDirectory = fsExtra.lstatSync(srcFilePath).isDirectory();
+      const shouldCopyTheItem = !ignore.ignores(isDirectory ? `${relativePath}/` : relativePath);
 
       Log.debug(shouldCopyTheItem ? 'copying' : 'skipping', {
         src,