diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index df09f7e..7d9a1c1 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ main(Args) ->
                       end,
 
     %% Compile all src/*.erl to ebin
-    case make:files(filelib:wildcard("src/*.erl"),
+    %% To not accidentally try to compile files like Mac OS X resource forks,
+    %% we only look for rebar source files that start with a letter.
+    case make:files(filelib:wildcard("src/[a-zA-Z]*.erl"),
                     [{outdir, "ebin"}, {i, "include"},
                      DebugFlag,
                      NamespacedTypes,
diff --git a/inttest/erlc/src/._do_not_compile.erl b/inttest/erlc/src/._do_not_compile.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9d743b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/erlc/src/._do_not_compile.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+syntax error
+this is file is here to verify that rebar does not try to
+compile files like OS X resource forks and should not be
+processed at all
diff --git a/src/rebar_appups.erl b/src/rebar_appups.erl
index a51c30d..38e7b72 100644
--- a/src/rebar_appups.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_appups.erl
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 
     %% Get a list of any appup files that exist in the new release
     NewAppUpFiles = rebar_utils:find_files(
-                      filename:join([NewVerPath, "lib"]), "^.*.appup$"),
+                      filename:join([NewVerPath, "lib"]), "^[^._].*.appup$"),
 
     %% Convert the list of appup files into app names
     AppUpApps = [file_to_name(File) || File <- NewAppUpFiles],
diff --git a/src/rebar_base_compiler.erl b/src/rebar_base_compiler.erl
index 1957070..b400512 100644
--- a/src/rebar_base_compiler.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_base_compiler.erl
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@
 
 -include("rebar.hrl").
 
--export([run/4, run/7, run/8,
-         ok_tuple/3, error_tuple/5]).
+-export([run/4,
+         run/7,
+         run/8,
+         ok_tuple/3,
+         error_tuple/5]).
 
 %% ===================================================================
 %% Public API
@@ -60,7 +63,7 @@ run(Config, FirstFiles, SourceDir, SourceExt, TargetDir, TargetExt,
 run(Config, FirstFiles, SourceDir, SourceExt, TargetDir, TargetExt,
     Compile3Fn, Opts) ->
     %% Convert simple extension to proper regex
-    SourceExtRe = ".*\\" ++ SourceExt ++ [$$],
+    SourceExtRe = "^[^._].*\\" ++ SourceExt ++ [$$],
 
     Recursive = proplists:get_value(recursive, Opts, true),
     %% Find all possible source files
diff --git a/src/rebar_core.erl b/src/rebar_core.erl
index 212365b..4557bb8 100644
--- a/src/rebar_core.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_core.erl
@@ -593,8 +593,7 @@ load_plugin_modules(Config, PredirsAssoc, Modules) ->
     ?DEBUG("Plugin dirs for ~s:~n~p~n", [Cwd, PluginDirs]),
 
     %% Find relevant sources in base_dir and plugin_dir
-    Erls = string:join([atom_to_list(M)++"\\.erl" || M <- Modules], "|"),
-    RE = "^" ++ Erls ++ "\$",
+    RE = string:join([atom_to_list(M)++"\\.erl" || M <- Modules], "|"),
     %% If a plugin is found both in base_dir and plugin_dir, the clash
     %% will provoke an error and we'll abort.
     Sources = [rebar_utils:find_files(PD, RE, false) || PD <- PluginDirs],
diff --git a/src/rebar_erlc_compiler.erl b/src/rebar_erlc_compiler.erl
index f628433..6ae927d 100644
--- a/src/rebar_erlc_compiler.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_erlc_compiler.erl
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
           info = {[], []} :: erlc_info()
         }).
 
+-define(RE_PREFIX, "^[^._]").
+
 -ifdef(namespaced_types).
 %% digraph:graph() exists starting from Erlang 17.
 -type rebar_digraph() :: digraph:graph().
@@ -110,14 +112,14 @@ compile(Config, _AppFile) ->
 
 -spec clean(rebar_config:config(), file:filename()) -> 'ok'.
 clean(Config, _AppFile) ->
-    MibFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("mibs", "^.*\\.mib\$"),
+    MibFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("mibs", ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.mib\$"),
     MIBs = [filename:rootname(filename:basename(MIB)) || MIB <- MibFiles],
     rebar_file_utils:delete_each(
       [filename:join(["include",MIB++".hrl"]) || MIB <- MIBs]),
     lists:foreach(fun(F) -> ok = rebar_file_utils:rm_rf(F) end,
                   ["ebin/*.beam", "priv/mibs/*.bin"]),
 
-    YrlFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("src", "^.*\\.[x|y]rl\$"),
+    YrlFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("src", ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.[x|y]rl\$"),
     rebar_file_utils:delete_each(
       [ binary_to_list(iolist_to_binary(re:replace(F, "\\.[x|y]rl$", ".erl")))
         || F <- YrlFiles ]),
@@ -129,7 +131,7 @@ clean(Config, _AppFile) ->
     %% directory structure in ebin with .beam files within. As such, we want
     %% to scan whatever is left in the ebin/ directory for sub-dirs which
     %% satisfy our criteria.
-    BeamFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("ebin", "^.*\\.beam\$"),
+    BeamFiles = rebar_utils:find_files("ebin", ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.beam\$"),
     rebar_file_utils:delete_each(BeamFiles),
     lists:foreach(fun(Dir) -> delete_dir(Dir, dirs(Dir)) end, dirs("ebin")),
     ok.
@@ -140,7 +142,7 @@ clean(Config, _AppFile) ->
 
 test_compile(Config, Cmd, OutDir) ->
     %% Obtain all the test modules for inclusion in the compile stage.
-    TestErls = rebar_utils:find_files("test", ".*\\.erl\$"),
+    TestErls = rebar_utils:find_files("test", ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.erl\$"),
 
     ErlOpts = rebar_utils:erl_opts(Config),
     {Config1, ErlOpts1} = test_compile_config_and_opts(Config, ErlOpts, Cmd),
@@ -151,7 +153,8 @@ test_compile(Config, Cmd, OutDir) ->
     SrcDirs = rebar_utils:src_dirs(proplists:append_values(src_dirs, ErlOpts1)),
     SrcErls = lists:foldl(
                 fun(Dir, Acc) ->
-                        Files = rebar_utils:find_files(Dir, ".*\\.erl\$"),
+                        Files = rebar_utils:find_files(
+                                  Dir, ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.erl\$"),
                         lists:append(Acc, Files)
                 end, [], SrcDirs),
 
@@ -645,7 +648,8 @@ compile_xrl_yrl(Config, Source, Target, Opts, Mod) ->
 gather_src([], Srcs) ->
     Srcs;
 gather_src([Dir|Rest], Srcs) ->
-    gather_src(Rest, Srcs ++ rebar_utils:find_files(Dir, ".*\\.erl\$")).
+    gather_src(
+      Rest, Srcs ++ rebar_utils:find_files(Dir, ?RE_PREFIX".*\\.erl\$")).
 
 -spec dirs(file:filename()) -> [file:filename()].
 dirs(Dir) ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_protobuffs_compiler.erl b/src/rebar_protobuffs_compiler.erl
index 579ecfb..e89c700 100644
--- a/src/rebar_protobuffs_compiler.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_protobuffs_compiler.erl
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 %% ===================================================================
 
 compile(Config, _AppFile) ->
-    case rebar_utils:find_files("src", ".*\\.proto$") of
+    case rebar_utils:find_files("src", "^[^._].*\\.proto$") of
         [] ->
             ok;
         FoundFiles ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_qc.erl b/src/rebar_qc.erl
index e08833b..2c565f1 100644
--- a/src/rebar_qc.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_qc.erl
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ qc_module(QC=eqc, [], M) -> QC:module(M);
 qc_module(QC=eqc, QCOpts, M) -> QC:module(QCOpts, M).
 
 find_prop_mods() ->
-    Beams = rebar_utils:find_files(?QC_DIR, ".*\\.beam\$"),
+    Beams = rebar_utils:find_files(?QC_DIR, "^[^._].*\\.beam\$"),
     [M || M <- [rebar_utils:erl_to_mod(Beam) || Beam <- Beams], has_prop(M)].
 
 has_prop(Mod) ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_templater.erl b/src/rebar_templater.erl
index 4abf404..dd89f3a 100644
--- a/src/rebar_templater.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_templater.erl
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 
 -include("rebar.hrl").
 
--define(TEMPLATE_RE, ".*\\.template\$").
+-define(TEMPLATE_RE, "^[^._].*\\.template\$").
 
 %% ===================================================================
 %% Public API