diff --git a/.bzrignore b/.bzrignore
index e42ea751..c0085a50 100644
--- a/.bzrignore
+++ b/.bzrignore
@@ -41,3 +41,6 @@ Makefile.in
 /usr/lib/byobu/include/dirs
 /usr/lib/byobu/include/toggle-utf8
 /usr/share/byobu/tests/byobu-time-notifications
+
+# produced tarballs
+/byobu-*.tar.gz
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b246f05d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -e
+
+autoreconf -fiv
+
+cat << EOF
+The byobu build system is now prepared.
+
+To build here, run:
+  ./configure
+  make
+EOF