diff --git a/contrib/devtools/lint-whitespace.sh b/contrib/devtools/lint-whitespace.sh
index 6150dd3f6..989923f31 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/lint-whitespace.sh
+++ b/contrib/devtools/lint-whitespace.sh
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@ if [ -z "${TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE}" ]; then
 fi
 
 showdiff() {
-  if ! git diff -U0 "${TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE}" -- "." ":(exclude)src/leveldb/" ":(exclude)src/secp256k1/" ":(exclude)src/univalue/"; then
+  if ! git diff -U0 "${TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE}" -- "." ":(exclude)src/leveldb/" ":(exclude)src/secp256k1/" ":(exclude)src/univalue/" ":(exclude)doc/release-notes/"; then
     echo "Failed to get a diff"
     exit 1
   fi
 }
 
 showcodediff() {
-  if ! git diff -U0 "${TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE}" -- *.cpp *.h *.md *.py *.sh ":(exclude)src/leveldb/" ":(exclude)src/secp256k1/" ":(exclude)src/univalue/"; then
+  if ! git diff -U0 "${TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE}" -- *.cpp *.h *.md *.py *.sh ":(exclude)src/leveldb/" ":(exclude)src/secp256k1/" ":(exclude)src/univalue/" ":(exclude)doc/release-notes/"; then
     echo "Failed to get a diff"
     exit 1
   fi