diff --git a/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java b/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
index 4ff9e8f21d..7375c76780 100644
--- a/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
+++ b/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ private final FileCollection parseTargetIsExclude(Object target, boolean isExclu
 			if (isExclude) {
 				return matchedFiles;
 			}
-			if (targetString.startsWith("**/*") || targetString.startsWith("**\\*")) {
+			if (targetString.startsWith("**/") || targetString.startsWith("**\\")) {
 				List<String> excludes = new ArrayList<>();
 				// no git
 				excludes.add(".git");