diff --git a/bootstrap.conf b/bootstrap.conf
index 0d5351f5..79ffa776 100644
--- a/bootstrap.conf
+++ b/bootstrap.conf
@@ -20,10 +20,12 @@
 source_base=gnu
 gnulib_name=libgnu
 
-# We don't need these modules, even though gnulib-tool mistakenly
-# includes them because of gettext dependencies.
+# We don't need these modules, even though gnulib-tool ordinarily
+# includes them because of dependencies on the modules 'exclude’ and 'regex'.
 avoided_gnulib_modules='
 	--avoid=lock
+	--avoid=mbuiter
+	--avoid=mbuiterf
 '
 
 
diff --git a/gnulib.modules b/gnulib.modules
index 3a1c2534..8bcd8096 100644
--- a/gnulib.modules
+++ b/gnulib.modules
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ lchown
 linkat
 localcharset
 manywarnings
+mcel-prefer
 mkdirat
 mkdtemp
 mkfifoat