diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 12f16ff08b..f1a1a4babd 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+4.2.0-dev.56 | 2021-07-30 08:52:49 -0700
+
+  * GH-1654: Exclude the .git directory when installing cmake files (Tim Wojtulewicz, Corelight)
+
 4.2.0-dev.54 | 2021-07-29 13:23:51 -0700
 
   * GH-1692: Add some safety to ASN's binary_to_int64 to avoid bad shifts (Tim Wojtulewicz, Corelight)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b15b8cc050..33418cf05b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -547,7 +547,8 @@ configure_file(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/zeek-config.in
 install(PROGRAMS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/zeek-config DESTINATION bin)
 
 install(DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake DESTINATION share/zeek
-        USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS)
+        USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS
+        PATTERN ".git" EXCLUDE)
 
 # Install wrapper script for Bro-to-Zeek renaming.
 include(InstallShellScript)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 27ba269bfb..5f08f495e6 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-4.2.0-dev.54
+4.2.0-dev.56