diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d35a4c4..dd6ffc6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -227,6 +227,34 @@
 cpplint = --filter=-x ${PREUPLOAD_FILES}
 ```
 
+## [Builtin Hooks Exclude Paths]
+
+*** note
+This section can only be added to the repo project-wide settings
+[GLOBAL-PREUPLOAD.cfg].
+***
+
+Used to explicitly exclude some projects when processing a hook. With this
+section, it is possible to define a hook that should apply to the majority of
+projects except a few.
+
+An entry must completely match the project's `REPO_PATH`. The paths can use the
+[shell-style wildcards](https://docs.python.org/library/fnmatch.html) and
+quotes. For advanced cases, it is possible to use a [regular
+expression](https://docs.python.org/howto/regex.html) by using the `^` prefix.
+
+```
+[Builtin Hooks Exclude Paths]
+# Run cpplint on all projects except ones under external/ and vendor/.
+# The "external" and "vendor" projects, if they exist, will still run cpplint.
+cpplint = external/* vendor/*
+
+# Run rustfmt on all projects except ones under external/.  All projects under
+# hardware/ will be excluded except for ones starting with hardware/google (due to
+# the negative regex match).
+rustfmt = external/ ^hardware/(!?google)
+```
+
 ## [Tool Paths]
 
 Some builtin hooks need to call external executables to work correctly.  By
diff --git a/pre-upload.py b/pre-upload.py
index 94bb961..e7ef564 100755
--- a/pre-upload.py
+++ b/pre-upload.py
@@ -274,16 +274,17 @@
                      (e,))
         return False
 
+    project = rh.Project(name=project_name, dir=proj_dir, remote=remote)
+    rel_proj_dir = os.path.relpath(proj_dir, rh.git.find_repo_root())
+
     os.environ.update({
         'REPO_LREV': rh.git.get_commit_for_ref(upstream_branch),
-        'REPO_PATH': os.path.relpath(proj_dir, rh.git.find_repo_root()),
+        'REPO_PATH': rel_proj_dir,
         'REPO_PROJECT': project_name,
         'REPO_REMOTE': remote,
         'REPO_RREV': rh.git.get_remote_revision(upstream_branch, remote),
     })
 
-    project = rh.Project(name=project_name, dir=proj_dir, remote=remote)
-
     if not commit_list:
         commit_list = rh.git.get_commits(
             ignore_merged_commits=config.ignore_merged_commits)
@@ -301,8 +302,10 @@
         commit_summary = desc.split('\n', 1)[0]
         output.commit_start(commit=commit, commit_summary=commit_summary)
 
-        for name, hook in hooks:
+        for name, hook, exclusion_scope in hooks:
             output.hook_start(name)
+            if rel_proj_dir in exclusion_scope:
+                break
             hook_results = hook(project, commit, desc, diff)
             (error, warning) = _process_hook_results(hook_results)
             if error is not None or warning is not None:
diff --git a/rh/config.py b/rh/config.py
index 459d691..e2ad713 100644
--- a/rh/config.py
+++ b/rh/config.py
@@ -106,12 +106,14 @@
     CUSTOM_HOOKS_SECTION = 'Hook Scripts'
     BUILTIN_HOOKS_SECTION = 'Builtin Hooks'
     BUILTIN_HOOKS_OPTIONS_SECTION = 'Builtin Hooks Options'
+    BUILTIN_HOOKS_EXCLUDE_SECTION = 'Builtin Hooks Exclude Paths'
     TOOL_PATHS_SECTION = 'Tool Paths'
     OPTIONS_SECTION = 'Options'
     VALID_SECTIONS = {
         CUSTOM_HOOKS_SECTION,
         BUILTIN_HOOKS_SECTION,
         BUILTIN_HOOKS_OPTIONS_SECTION,
+        BUILTIN_HOOKS_EXCLUDE_SECTION,
         TOOL_PATHS_SECTION,
         OPTIONS_SECTION,
     }
@@ -152,26 +154,35 @@
         return shlex.split(self.config.get(self.BUILTIN_HOOKS_OPTIONS_SECTION,
                                            hook, ''))
 
+    def builtin_hook_exclude_paths(self, hook):
+        """List of paths for which |hook| should not be executed."""
+        return shlex.split(self.config.get(self.BUILTIN_HOOKS_EXCLUDE_SECTION,
+                                           hook, ''))
+
     @property
     def tool_paths(self):
         """List of all tool paths."""
         return dict(self.config.items(self.TOOL_PATHS_SECTION, ()))
 
     def callable_hooks(self):
-        """Yield a name and callback for each hook to be executed."""
+        """Yield a CallableHook for each hook to be executed."""
+        scope = rh.hooks.ExclusionScope([])
         for hook in self.custom_hooks:
             options = rh.hooks.HookOptions(hook,
                                            self.custom_hook(hook),
                                            self.tool_paths)
-            yield (hook, functools.partial(rh.hooks.check_custom,
-                                           options=options))
+            func = functools.partial(rh.hooks.check_custom, options=options)
+            yield rh.hooks.CallableHook(hook, func, scope)
 
         for hook in self.builtin_hooks:
             options = rh.hooks.HookOptions(hook,
                                            self.builtin_hook_option(hook),
                                            self.tool_paths)
-            yield (hook, functools.partial(rh.hooks.BUILTIN_HOOKS[hook],
-                                           options=options))
+            func = functools.partial(rh.hooks.BUILTIN_HOOKS[hook],
+                                     options=options)
+            scope = rh.hooks.ExclusionScope(
+                self.builtin_hook_exclude_paths(hook))
+            yield rh.hooks.CallableHook(hook, func, scope)
 
     @property
     def ignore_merged_commits(self):
@@ -301,6 +312,15 @@
     """A single config file for a project (PREUPLOAD.cfg)."""
     FILENAME = 'PREUPLOAD.cfg'
 
+    def _validate(self):
+        super(LocalPreUploadFile, self)._validate()
+
+        # Reject Exclude Paths section for local config.
+        if self.config.has_section(self.BUILTIN_HOOKS_EXCLUDE_SECTION):
+            raise ValidationError('%s: [%s] is not valid in local files' %
+                                  (self.path,
+                                   self.BUILTIN_HOOKS_EXCLUDE_SECTION))
+
 
 class GlobalPreUploadFile(PreUploadFile):
     """A single config file for a repo (GLOBAL-PREUPLOAD.cfg)."""
diff --git a/rh/config_unittest.py b/rh/config_unittest.py
index c8aceb9..4b27c5a 100755
--- a/rh/config_unittest.py
+++ b/rh/config_unittest.py
@@ -133,6 +133,19 @@
                           path)
 
 
+class LocalPreUploadFileTests(FileTestCase):
+    """Test for the LocalPreUploadFile class."""
+
+    def testInvalidSectionConfig(self):
+        """Reject local config that uses invalid sections."""
+        path = self._write_config("""[Builtin Hooks Exclude Paths]
+cpplint = external/ 'test directory' ^vendor/(?!google/)
+""")
+        self.assertRaises(rh.config.ValidationError,
+                          rh.config.LocalPreUploadFile,
+                          path)
+
+
 class PreUploadSettingsTests(FileTestCase):
     """Tests for the PreUploadSettings class."""
 
@@ -150,6 +163,13 @@
         self.assertEqual(config.builtin_hooks,
                          ['commit_msg_changeid_field', 'commit_msg_test_field'])
 
+    def testGlobalExcludeScope(self):
+        """Verify exclude scope is valid for global config."""
+        self._write_global_config("""[Builtin Hooks Exclude Paths]
+cpplint = external/ 'test directory' ^vendor/(?!google/)
+""")
+        rh.config.PreUploadSettings(global_paths=(self.tempdir,))
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/rh/hooks.py b/rh/hooks.py
index 42427d5..b5350cd 100644
--- a/rh/hooks.py
+++ b/rh/hooks.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import print_function
 
+import collections
+import fnmatch
 import json
 import os
 import platform
@@ -141,6 +143,42 @@
         return _get_build_os_name()
 
 
+class ExclusionScope(object):
+    """Exclusion scope for a hook.
+
+    An exclusion scope can be used to determine if a hook has been disabled for
+    a specific project.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, scope):
+        """Initialize.
+
+        Args:
+          scope: A list of shell-style wildcards (fnmatch) or regular
+              expression. Regular expressions must start with the ^ character.
+        """
+        self._scope = []
+        for path in scope:
+            if path.startswith('^'):
+                self._scope.append(re.compile(path))
+            else:
+                self._scope.append(path)
+
+    def __contains__(self, proj_dir):
+        """Checks if |proj_dir| matches the excluded paths.
+
+        Args:
+          proj_dir: The relative path of the project.
+        """
+        for exclusion_path in self._scope:
+            if isinstance(exclusion_path, re.Pattern):
+                if exclusion_path.match(proj_dir):
+                    return True
+            elif fnmatch.fnmatch(proj_dir, exclusion_path):
+                return True
+        return False
+
+
 class HookOptions(object):
     """Holder class for hook options."""
 
@@ -199,6 +237,10 @@
         return self.expand_vars([tool_path])[0]
 
 
+# A callable hook.
+CallableHook = collections.namedtuple('CallableHook', ('name', 'hook', 'scope'))
+
+
 def _run(cmd, **kwargs):
     """Helper command for checks that tend to gather output."""
     kwargs.setdefault('combine_stdout_stderr', True)
diff --git a/rh/hooks_unittest.py b/rh/hooks_unittest.py
index daa240b..12059f8 100755
--- a/rh/hooks_unittest.py
+++ b/rh/hooks_unittest.py
@@ -182,6 +182,28 @@
         self.assertEqual(self.replacer.get('BUILD_OS'), m.return_value)
 
 
+class ExclusionScopeTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Verify behavior of ExclusionScope class."""
+
+    def testEmpty(self):
+        """Verify the in operator for an empty scope."""
+        scope = rh.hooks.ExclusionScope([])
+        self.assertNotIn('external/*', scope)
+
+    def testGlob(self):
+        """Verify the in operator for a scope using wildcards."""
+        scope = rh.hooks.ExclusionScope(['vendor/*', 'external/*'])
+        self.assertIn('external/tools', scope)
+
+    def testRegex(self):
+        """Verify the in operator for a scope using regular expressions."""
+        scope = rh.hooks.ExclusionScope(['^vendor/(?!google)',
+                                         'external/*'])
+        self.assertIn('vendor/', scope)
+        self.assertNotIn('vendor/google/', scope)
+        self.assertIn('vendor/other/', scope)
+
+
 class HookOptionsTests(unittest.TestCase):
     """Verify behavior of HookOptions object."""