diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index 97af69babc8..15e0d1d37e4 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,16 @@ BASEDIR=$(dirname $(readlink -f $(dirname $0)))
 
  for d in opentelemetry-api/ opentelemetry-sdk/ ext/*/ ; do
    (
+     echo "building $d"
      cd "$d"
-     python3 setup.py --verbose bdist_wheel --dist-dir "$BASEDIR/dist/"
+     # some ext directories (such as docker tests)
+     # are not intended to be packaged. Verify the
+     # intent by looking for a setup.py
+     if [ -f setup.py ]; then
+      python3 setup.py --verbose bdist_wheel --dist-dir "$BASEDIR/dist/" \
+        sdist --dist-dir "$BASEDIR/dist/" \
+        clean --all
+     fi
    )
  done
 )