diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b9f4ec465675218dcffbe263e70e04bef14d5760..feb56dfca05577439608365521f04ab1d9cd0b9d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -158,12 +158,43 @@ add_custom_target(ctags DEPENDS tags)
 #
 # Enable 'make luacheck' target.
 #
-
+# The code looks tricky, because of luacheck side problems
+# (see [1]).
+#
+# The following circumstances may lead to missing of source files
+# or exclusions:
+#
+# * Calling `luacheck "${dir}/.luacheckrc" "${dir}"` from
+#   outside of ${dir} or when ${dir} is not a real path.
+# * Using of a path with symlink components in --exclude-files.
+#
+# We should exclude the build directory (when it is inside the
+# source tree), at least because it contains LuaJIT's generated
+# files and the temporary directory for testing (test/var).
+#
+# .luacheckrc provides corresponding exclusion rules for the
+# in-source build case (`cmake .`).
+#
+# [1]: https://github.com/mpeterv/luacheck/issues/208
+#
+set(EXCLUDE_FILES)
+get_filename_component(BINARY_REALPATH "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}" REALPATH)
+get_filename_component(SOURCE_REALPATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}" REALPATH)
+file_is_in_directory(BINARY_DIR_INSIDE_SOURCE_DIR "${BINARY_REALPATH}"
+                     "${SOURCE_REALPATH}")
+if (BINARY_DIR_INSIDE_SOURCE_DIR)
+    set(EXCLUDE_FILES --exclude-files "${BINARY_REALPATH}/**/*.lua")
+endif()
 add_custom_target(luacheck DEPENDS LuaJIT-luacheck)
 add_custom_command(TARGET luacheck
-    COMMAND ${LUACHECK} --codes --config "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/.luacheckrc" "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}"
+    COMMAND ${LUACHECK} --codes --config .luacheckrc . ${EXCLUDE_FILES}
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${SOURCE_REALPATH}
     COMMENT "Perform static analysis of Lua code"
 )
+unset(BINARY_REALPATH)
+unset(SOURCE_REALPATH)
+unset(BINARY_DIR_INSIDE_SOURCE_DIR)
+unset(EXCLUDE_FILES)
 
 if (WITH_JEPSEN)
     ExternalProject_Add(
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index 6d69604682834edf6d3f5c4a191087bf7d2e3dcf..ab64690de006aface95be1065fa74259a27c5960 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -88,3 +88,31 @@ function(bin_source varname srcfile dstfile)
 
 endfunction()
 
+#
+# Whether a file is descendant to a directory.
+#
+# If the file is the directory itself, the answer is FALSE.
+#
+function(file_is_in_directory varname file dir)
+    file(RELATIVE_PATH file_relative "${dir}" "${file}")
+
+    # Tricky point: one may find <STREQUAL ".."> and
+    # <MATCHES "^\\.\\./"> if-branches quite similar and coalesce
+    # them as <MATCHES "^\\.\\.">. However it'll match paths like
+    # "..." or "..foo/bar", whose are definitely descendant to
+    # the directory.
+    if (file_relative STREQUAL "")
+        # <file> and <dir> is the same directory.
+        set(${varname} FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
+    elseif (file_relative STREQUAL "..")
+        # <dir> inside a <file> (so it is a directory too), not
+        # vice versa.
+        set(${varname} FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
+    elseif (file_relative MATCHES "^\\.\\./")
+        # <file> somewhere outside of the <dir>.
+        set(${varname} FALSE PARENT_SCOPE)
+    else()
+        # <file> is descendant to <dir>.
+        set(${varname} TRUE PARENT_SCOPE)
+    endif()
+endfunction()