diff --git a/walk/config.go b/walk/config.go
index bd59cb688..4c37668eb 100644
--- a/walk/config.go
+++ b/walk/config.go
@@ -16,9 +16,14 @@ limitations under the License.
 package walk
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"flag"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"os"
 	"path"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-gazelle/config"
 	"github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-gazelle/rule"
@@ -35,6 +40,7 @@ type walkConfig struct {
 	excludes []string
 	ignore   bool
 	follow   []string
+	loadOnce sync.Once
 }
 
 const walkName = "_walk"
@@ -84,6 +90,12 @@ func (cr *Configurer) Configure(c *config.Config, rel string, f *rule.File) {
 	*wcCopy = *wc
 	wcCopy.ignore = false
 
+	wc.loadOnce.Do(func() {
+		if err := cr.loadBazelIgnore(c.RepoRoot, wcCopy); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("error loading .bazelignore: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+
 	if f != nil {
 		for _, d := range f.Directives {
 			switch d.Key {
@@ -104,6 +116,35 @@ func (cr *Configurer) Configure(c *config.Config, rel string, f *rule.File) {
 	c.Exts[walkName] = wcCopy
 }
 
+func (c *Configurer) loadBazelIgnore(repoRoot string, wc *walkConfig) error {
+	ignorePath := path.Join(repoRoot, ".bazelignore")
+	file, err := os.Open(ignorePath)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf(".bazelignore exists but couldn't be read: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		ignore := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
+		if ignore == "" || string(ignore[0]) == "#" {
+			continue
+		}
+		// Bazel ignore paths are always relative to repo root.
+		// Glob patterns are not supported.
+		if strings.ContainsAny(ignore, "*?[") {
+			log.Printf("the .bazelignore exclusion pattern must not be a glob %s", ignore)
+			continue
+		}
+		// Ensure we remove trailing slashes or the exclude matching won't work correctly
+		wc.excludes = append(wc.excludes, strings.TrimSuffix(ignore, "/"))
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func checkPathMatchPattern(pattern string) error {
 	_, err := doublestar.Match(pattern, "x")
 	return err
diff --git a/walk/walk_test.go b/walk/walk_test.go
index 1cb38b083..0710fd420 100644
--- a/walk/walk_test.go
+++ b/walk/walk_test.go
@@ -192,13 +192,28 @@ func TestExcludeFiles(t *testing.T) {
 gen(
     name = "x",
     out = "gen",
-)
+)`,
+		},
+		{
+			Path: ".bazelignore",
+			Content: `
+dir
+dir2/a/b
+dir3/
+
+# Globs are not allowed in .bazelignore so this will not be ignored
+foo/*
+
+# Random comment followed by a line
+a.file
 `,
 		},
 		{Path: ".dot"},       // not ignored
 		{Path: "_blank"},     // not ignored
 		{Path: "a/a.proto"},  // not ignored
 		{Path: "a/b.gen.go"}, // not ignored
+		{Path: "dir2/a/c"},   // not ignored
+		{Path: "foo/a/c"},    // not ignored
 
 		{Path: "a.gen.go"},        // ignored by '*.gen.go'
 		{Path: "a.go"},            // ignored by 'a.go'
@@ -210,6 +225,10 @@ gen(
 		{Path: "c/x/y/b/foo/bar"}, // ignored by 'c/**/b'
 		{Path: "ign/bad"},         // ignored by 'ign'
 		{Path: "sub/b.go"},        // ignored by 'sub/b.go'
+		{Path: "dir/contents"},    // ignored by .bazelignore 'dir'
+		{Path: "dir2/a/b"},        // ignored by .bazelignore 'dir2/a/b'
+		{Path: "dir3/g/h"},        // ignored by .bazelignore 'dir3/'
+		{Path: "a.file"},          // ignored by .bazelignore 'a.file'
 	})
 	defer cleanup()
 
@@ -223,7 +242,7 @@ gen(
 			files = append(files, path.Join(rel, f))
 		}
 	})
-	want := []string{"a/a.proto", "a/b.gen.go", ".dot", "BUILD.bazel", "_blank"}
+	want := []string{"a/a.proto", "a/b.gen.go", "dir2/a/c", "foo/a/c", ".bazelignore", ".dot", "BUILD.bazel", "_blank"}
 	if diff := cmp.Diff(want, files); diff != "" {
 		t.Errorf("Walk files (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
 	}