diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c6840675bbce5e2fd251b85bdae4a38981fbd8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include src/vips_reference_model/images/*
\ No newline at end of file