diff --git a/.arclint b/.arclint
--- a/.arclint
+++ b/.arclint
@@ -221,7 +221,8 @@
             "include": "(\\.(ac|am|cmake|conf|in|include|json|m4|md|openrc|php|pl|sh|txt|yml)$)",
             "exclude": [
                 "(^contrib/gitian-builder/)",
-                "(^src/(secp256k1|univalue|leveldb)/)"
+                "(^src/(secp256k1|univalue|leveldb)/)",
+                "(\\.md$)"
             ]
         },
         "lint-cppcheck": {