diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e5b9ed48269..ac2b36c8f87 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -2626,6 +2626,7 @@
         <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
         <version>2.13</version>
         <configuration>
+          <excludes>target/**</excludes>
           <configLocation>hbase/checkstyle.xml</configLocation>
           <suppressionsLocation>hbase/checkstyle-suppressions.xml</suppressionsLocation>
         </configuration>