diff --git a/task_test.go b/task_test.go
index dd92f8eef5..68f9375f2b 100644
--- a/task_test.go
+++ b/task_test.go
@@ -1635,6 +1635,28 @@ func TestIncludesWithExclude(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	buff.Reset()
 
+	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "included:tools:lint"})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	buff.Reset()
+
+	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "included:tools:test"})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	buff.Reset()
+
+	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "included:toolshed"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "toolshed\n", buff.String())
+	buff.Reset()
+
+	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "included:deploy:*"})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	buff.Reset()
+
+	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "included:deploy:one"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "deploy-one\n", buff.String())
+	buff.Reset()
+
 	err = e.Run(t.Context(), &task.Call{Task: "bar"})
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	buff.Reset()
diff --git a/taskfile/ast/tasks.go b/taskfile/ast/tasks.go
index 62aa53a6b4..c9d85faa33 100644
--- a/taskfile/ast/tasks.go
+++ b/taskfile/ast/tasks.go
@@ -130,8 +130,11 @@ func (t1 *Tasks) Merge(t2 *Tasks, include *Include, includedTaskfileVars *Vars)
 		task.Internal = task.Internal || (include != nil && include.Internal)
 		taskName := name
 
-		// if the task is in the exclude list, don't add it to the merged taskfile
-		if slices.Contains(include.Excludes, name) {
+		// If the task or one of its namespaces is in the exclude list, don't add
+		// it to the merged taskfile.
+		if slices.ContainsFunc(include.Excludes, func(exclude string) bool {
+			return name == exclude || strings.HasPrefix(name, exclude+":")
+		}) {
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/testdata/includes_with_excludes/Taskfile.yml b/testdata/includes_with_excludes/Taskfile.yml
index 6548aab5aa..1a0ab37dbd 100644
--- a/testdata/includes_with_excludes/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/testdata/includes_with_excludes/Taskfile.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ includes:
   included:
     taskfile: ./included/Taskfile.yml
     excludes:
-        - foo
+      - foo
+      - tools
+      - deploy:*
   included_flatten:
     taskfile: ./included/Taskfile.yml
     flatten: true
diff --git a/testdata/includes_with_excludes/included/Taskfile.yml b/testdata/includes_with_excludes/included/Taskfile.yml
index 6de33b0149..9612ba88cb 100644
--- a/testdata/includes_with_excludes/included/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/testdata/includes_with_excludes/included/Taskfile.yml
@@ -3,3 +3,8 @@ version: '3'
 tasks:
   foo: echo foo
   bar: echo bar
+  tools:lint: echo lint
+  tools:test: echo test
+  toolshed: echo toolshed
+  deploy:*: echo wildcard
+  deploy:one: echo deploy-one
diff --git a/website/src/docs/guide.md b/website/src/docs/guide.md
index 8a06d38a3a..0cae3b5576 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/guide.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/guide.md
@@ -413,7 +413,9 @@ You can do this by using the
 ### Exclude tasks from being included
 
 You can exclude tasks from being included by using the `excludes` option. This
-option takes the list of tasks to be excluded from this include.
+option takes a list of task names or namespaces to be excluded from this
+include. Excluding a namespace also excludes all tasks below it. Entries are
+matched literally and are not treated as glob patterns.
 
 ::: code-group
 
@@ -423,7 +425,7 @@ version: '3'
 includes:
   included:
     taskfile: ./Included.yml
-    excludes: [foo]
+    excludes: [foo, tools]
 ```
 
 ```yaml [Included.yml]
@@ -432,6 +434,8 @@ version: '3'
 tasks:
   foo: echo "Foo"
   bar: echo "Bar"
+  tools:lint: echo "Lint"
+  tools:test: echo "Test"
 ```
 
 :::
diff --git a/website/src/docs/reference/schema.md b/website/src/docs/reference/schema.md
index 71ead0757e..429febde5e 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/reference/schema.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/reference/schema.md
@@ -297,13 +297,13 @@ includes:
 ### `excludes`
 
 - **Type**: `[]string`
-- **Description**: Tasks to exclude from inclusion
+- **Description**: Literal task names or namespaces to exclude from inclusion
 
 ```yaml
 includes:
   shared:
     taskfile: ./shared.yml
-    excludes: [internal-setup, debug-only]
+    excludes: [internal-setup, debug]
 ```
 
 ### `vars`