diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0ebfcac..8593cc2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 ANSIBLE_ROLES     ?= $(wildcard roles/*)
 
 # YAML files, excluding venv and cookiecutter directories
-YAML_FILES        ?= $(shell find . -type d \( -path "./venv_onfansible" -o -path "./cookiecutters" -o -path "./ansible_collections" -o -path "./roles" \) -prune -o -type f \( -name '*.yaml' -o -name '*.yml' \) -print )
+YAML_FILES        ?= $(shell find . -type d \( -path "./venv_onfansible" -o -path "./cookiecutters" -o -path "./ansible_collections" -o -path "./roles" -o -path "./inventory/host_vars" \) -prune -o -type f \( -name '*.yaml' -o -name '*.yml' \) -print )
 
 # all files with extensions
 PYTHON_FILES      ?= $(wildcard scripts/*.py filter_plugins/*.py lint_rules/*.py cookiecutters/*/hooks/*.py roles/*/filter_plugins/*.py)