diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3262602..b9a7944 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Added
 
 - `zoxide init` now defines `__zoxide_z*` functions that can be aliased as needed.
+- `$_ZO_EXCLUDE_DIRS` now supports globs.
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 207d36d..26116b7 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasi 0.9.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "glob"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "heck"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -419,6 +424,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "dirs 3.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "dunce 1.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "float-ord 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "glob 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "serde 1.0.114 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "structopt 0.3.15 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "uuid 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -445,6 +451,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum dunce 1.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b2641c4a7c0c4101df53ea572bffdc561c146f6c2eb09e4df02bc4811e3feeb4"
 "checksum float-ord 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7bad48618fdb549078c333a7a8528acb57af271d0433bdecd523eb620628364e"
 "checksum getrandom 0.1.14 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7abc8dd8451921606d809ba32e95b6111925cd2906060d2dcc29c070220503eb"
+"checksum glob 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "9b919933a397b79c37e33b77bb2aa3dc8eb6e165ad809e58ff75bc7db2e34574"
 "checksum heck 0.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "20564e78d53d2bb135c343b3f47714a56af2061f1c928fdb541dc7b9fdd94205"
 "checksum hermit-abi 0.1.14 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b9586eedd4ce6b3c498bc3b4dd92fc9f11166aa908a914071953768066c67909"
 "checksum lazy_static 1.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "e2abad23fbc42b3700f2f279844dc832adb2b2eb069b2df918f455c4e18cc646"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 126808d..1d5d68a 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ clap = "2.33.0"
 dirs = "3.0.0"
 dunce = "1.0.0"
 float-ord = "0.2.0"
+glob = "0.3.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0.106", features = ["derive"] }
 structopt = "0.3.12"
 uuid = { version = "0.8.1", features = ["v4"] }
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 902e96a..8c14e19 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -27,10 +27,18 @@ pub fn zo_data_dir() -> Result<PathBuf> {
     Ok(data_dir)
 }
 
-pub fn zo_exclude_dirs() -> Vec<PathBuf> {
+pub fn zo_exclude_dirs() -> Result<Vec<glob::Pattern>> {
     match env::var_os("_ZO_EXCLUDE_DIRS") {
-        Some(dirs_osstr) => env::split_paths(&dirs_osstr).collect(),
-        None => Vec::new(),
+        Some(dirs_osstr) => env::split_paths(&dirs_osstr)
+            .map(|path| {
+                let pattern = path
+                    .to_str()
+                    .context("invalid utf-8 sequence in _ZO_EXCLUDE_DIRS")?;
+                glob::Pattern::new(&pattern)
+                    .with_context(|| format!("invalid glob in _ZO_EXCLUDE_DIRS: {}", pattern))
+            })
+            .collect(),
+        None => Ok(Vec::new()),
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/subcommand/add.rs b/src/subcommand/add.rs
index 3c3010d..5ed3864 100644
--- a/src/subcommand/add.rs
+++ b/src/subcommand/add.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ fn add<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> Result<()> {
         util::resolve_path(&path)?
     };
 
-    if config::zo_exclude_dirs().contains(&path) {
+    if config::zo_exclude_dirs()?
+        .iter()
+        .any(|pattern| pattern.matches_path(&path))
+    {
         return Ok(());
     }