diff --git a/po4a/update-po b/po4a/update-po
index d886ad0d..71f3e47a 100755
--- a/po4a/update-po
+++ b/po4a/update-po
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ po4a --force --verbose \
 	--copyright-holder="The XZ Utils authors and contributors" \
 	po4a.conf
 
+# Remove the *.po.authors files that were generated above.
+# This way they won't get included in distribution tarballs.
+rm -f *.po.authors
+
 # Add the customized POT header which contains the SPDX license
 # identifier and spells out the license name instead of saying
 # "the same license as the XZ Utils package".