diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index d57b20cff9b..bf7a6a047e2 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,18 +1,11 @@
 include COPYING
+include bin/*
+include changelogs/CHANGELOG*.rst
+include changelogs/changelog.yaml
+include licenses/*.txt
 include requirements.txt
-recursive-include licenses *.txt
 recursive-include packaging *.py *.j2
 recursive-include test/integration *
 recursive-include test/sanity *.in *.json *.py *.txt
 recursive-include test/support *.py *.ps1 *.psm1 *.cs *.md
-exclude test/sanity/code-smell/botmeta.*
-exclude test/sanity/code-smell/release-names.*
-exclude test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/bin_symlinks.py
-exclude test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/integration_aliases.py
 recursive-include test/units *
-include MANIFEST.in
-include changelogs/CHANGELOG*.rst
-include changelogs/changelog.yaml
-include hacking/test-module.py
-include hacking/update-sanity-requirements.py
-include bin/*
diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/manifest-in-cleanup.yml b/changelogs/fragments/manifest-in-cleanup.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..457b17f8e3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/manifest-in-cleanup.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - Removed ``exclude`` and ``recursive-exclude`` commands for generated files from the ``MANIFEST.in`` file.
+    These excludes were unnecessary since releases are expected to be built with a clean worktree.
+  - Removed ``exclude`` commands for sanity test files from the ``MANIFEST.in`` file.
+    These tests were previously excluded because they did not pass when run from an sdist.
+    However, sanity tests are not expected to pass from an sdist, so excluding some (but not all) of the failing tests makes little sense.
+  - Removed redundant ``include`` commands from the ``MANIFEST.in`` file.
+    These includes either duplicated default behavior or another command.
+  - Use ``include`` where ``recursive-include`` is unnecessary in the ``MANIFEST.in`` file.
diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/package-data.py b/test/sanity/code-smell/package-data.py
index 1cf7924db93..6df34ed254b 100644
--- a/test/sanity/code-smell/package-data.py
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/package-data.py
@@ -28,12 +28,8 @@ def assemble_files_to_ship(complete_file_list):
         '.github/*',
         '.github/*/*',
         'changelogs/fragments/*',
-        'hacking/backport/*',
-        'hacking/azp/*',
-        'hacking/tests/*',
-        'hacking/ticket_stubs/*',
-        'test/sanity/code-smell/botmeta.*',
-        'test/sanity/code-smell/release-names.*',
+        'hacking/*',
+        'hacking/*/*',
         'test/results/.tmp/*',
         'test/results/.tmp/*/*',
         'test/results/.tmp/*/*/*',
@@ -45,32 +41,8 @@ def assemble_files_to_ship(complete_file_list):
         # Developer-only tools
         'changelogs/README.md',
         'changelogs/config.yaml',
-        'hacking/README.md',
-        'hacking/ansible-profile',
-        'hacking/cgroup_perf_recap_graph.py',
-        'hacking/create_deprecated_issues.py',
-        'hacking/deprecated_issue_template.md',
-        'hacking/create_deprecation_bug_reports.py',
-        'hacking/fix_test_syntax.py',
-        'hacking/get_library.py',
-        'hacking/metadata-tool.py',
-        'hacking/report.py',
-        'hacking/return_skeleton_generator.py',
-        'hacking/test-module',
-        'test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/bin_symlinks.py',
-        'test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/integration_aliases.py',
         '.cherry_picker.toml',
         '.mailmap',
-        # Possibly should be included
-        'hacking/env-setup',
-        'hacking/env-setup.fish',
-        'MANIFEST',
-        'setup.cfg',
-        # docs for test files not included in sdist
-        'docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/bin-symlinks.rst',
-        'docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/botmeta.rst',
-        'docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/integration-aliases.rst',
-        'docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/release-names.rst',
     ))
 
     # These files are generated and then intentionally added to the sdist
@@ -99,8 +71,6 @@ def assemble_files_to_install(complete_file_list):
     """
     ignore_patterns = (
         # Tests excluded from sdist
-        'test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/bin_symlinks.py',
-        'test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/commands/sanity/integration_aliases.py',
     )
 
     pkg_data_files = []