diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index ee182b7cf2f86989a59a5c7827deb79af0dab30d..5576ecb8c5a92685f1d2bc50e6f649af8b24c8ee 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ local-checks-to-skip =			\
   sc_makefile_check			\
   sc_useless_cpp_parens
 
+# Files that should never cause syntax check failures.
+VC_LIST_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE_REGEX = ^docs/news.html.in$$
+
+# Functions like free() that are no-ops on NULL arguments.
 useless_free_options =				\
   --name=VIR_FREE				\
   --name=sexpr_free				\