diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index fd35f7938..72c9648bf 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -1036,11 +1036,14 @@ if env['build_docs']:
     SConscript('doc/SConscript')
 
 if 'samples' in COMMAND_LINE_TARGETS or 'install' in COMMAND_LINE_TARGETS:
+    sampledir_excludes = ['ct2ctml', '\\.o$', '^~$', 'xml$', '\\.in',
+                          'SConscript', 'Makefile.am']
     SConscript('samples/cxx/SConscript')
 
     # Install C++ samples
     inst = env.RecursiveInstall(pjoin('$inst_sampledir', 'cxx'),
-                                'samples/cxx')
+                                'samples/cxx',
+                                exclude=sampledir_excludes)
     installTargets.extend(inst)
 
     if env['f90_interface'] == 'y':
@@ -1049,9 +1052,11 @@ if 'samples' in COMMAND_LINE_TARGETS or 'install' in COMMAND_LINE_TARGETS:
 
     if env['addInstallTargets'] and env['f90_interface'] == 'y':
         # install F90 / F77 samples
-        inst = env.RecursiveInstall(pjoin('$inst_sampledir', 'f77'), 'samples/f77')
+        inst = env.RecursiveInstall(pjoin('$inst_sampledir', 'f77'),
+                                    'samples/f77', sampledir_excludes)
         installTargets.extend(inst)
-        inst = env.RecursiveInstall(pjoin('$inst_sampledir', 'f90'), 'samples/f90')
+        inst = env.RecursiveInstall(pjoin('$inst_sampledir', 'f90'),
+                                    'samples/f90', sampledir_excludes)
         installTargets.extend(inst)
 
 
diff --git a/site_scons/site_tools/recursiveInstall.py b/site_scons/site_tools/recursiveInstall.py
index 70b473ad8..197e95b31 100644
--- a/site_scons/site_tools/recursiveInstall.py
+++ b/site_scons/site_tools/recursiveInstall.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
+import re
 
-def RecursiveInstall(env, target, dir):
+def RecursiveInstall(env, target, dir, exclude=None):
     """
     This tool adds the builder:
 
@@ -12,6 +13,9 @@ def RecursiveInstall(env, target, dir):
 
     and if any thing in dir_source is updated the install is rerun
 
+    'exclude' is a list of regular expression patterns for files
+    to skip, e.g. ['\\.o$', '^~']
+
     It behaves similar to the env.Install builtin. However it expects
     two directories and correctly sets up the dependencies between each
     sub file instead of just between the two directories.
@@ -27,7 +31,12 @@ def RecursiveInstall(env, target, dir):
     and see the one to one correspondence between source and target
     files within each directory.
     """
-    nodes = _recursive_install(env, dir)
+    if exclude:
+        excludePatterns = [re.compile(e) for e in exclude]
+    else:
+        excludePatterns = []
+
+    nodes = _recursive_install(env, dir, excludePatterns)
 
     dir = env.Dir(dir).abspath
     target = env.Dir(target).abspath
@@ -45,14 +54,22 @@ def RecursiveInstall(env, target, dir):
     return out
 
 
-def _recursive_install(env, path):
+def _recursive_install(env, path, exclude):
     """ Helper function for RecursiveInstall """
     nodes = env.Glob(os.path.join(path, '*'), strings=False)
     nodes.extend(env.Glob(os.path.join(path, '*.*'), strings=False))
     out = []
     for n in nodes:
+        skip = False
+        for e in exclude:
+            if e.search(n.name):
+                skip = True
+                break
+        if skip:
+            continue
+
         if n.isdir():
-            out.extend(_recursive_install(env, n.abspath))
+            out.extend(_recursive_install(env, n.abspath, exclude))
         else:
             out.append(n)