diff --git a/src/gen/plug/_manager.py b/src/gen/plug/_manager.py
index f4d20d6b8..32e8473db 100644
--- a/src/gen/plug/_manager.py
+++ b/src/gen/plug/_manager.py
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ class BasePluginManager(object):
             return False # return value is True for error
         
         for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in os.walk(direct):
+            root, subdir = os.path.split(dirpath)
+            if subdir.startswith("."): 
+                dirnames[:] = []
+                continue
             for dirname in dirnames:
                 # Skip hidden and system directories:
                 if dirname.startswith(".") or dirname in ["po", "locale"]: