diff --git a/release/build_devel.sh b/release/build_devel.sh
index 18d99bb1cf..7fce11ca72 100755
--- a/release/build_devel.sh
+++ b/release/build_devel.sh
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ cp -pR --parents $(./release/release_files.py) $TARGET_DIR/
 # in the directory
 cd $TARGET_DIR
 rm -f panda/board/obj/panda.bin.signed
-git submodule status
 
 # include source commit hash and build date in commit
 GIT_HASH=$(git --git-dir=$SOURCE_DIR/.git rev-parse HEAD)
@@ -64,6 +63,13 @@ date: $DATETIME
 master commit: $GIT_HASH
 "
 
+# should be no submodules or LFS files
+git submodule status
+if [ ! -z "$(git lfs ls-files)" ]; then
+  echo "LFS files detected!"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 # ensure files are within GitHub's limit
 BIG_FILES="$(find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' -size +95M)"
 if [ ! -z "$BIG_FILES" ]; then
diff --git a/release/release_files.py b/release/release_files.py
index bf6cd56a90..23e56d3543 100755
--- a/release/release_files.py
+++ b/release/release_files.py
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ blacklist = [
   ".devcontainer/",
   "Darwin/",
   ".vscode",
+
+  # no LFS
+  ".lfsconfig",
+  ".gitattributes",
 ]
 
 # gets you through the blacklist