diff --git a/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md b/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
index 744c6efce7..f351495462 100644
--- a/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
+++ b/plugin-gradle/CHANGES.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ We adhere to the [keepachangelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) format (
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+* Add target option `targetExcludeIfContentContains` to exclude files by text they contain.
 ### Fixed
 * Correctly support the syntax
   ```
diff --git a/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java b/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
index 4fa74bc2ea..7e2e755f5d 100644
--- a/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
+++ b/plugin-gradle/src/main/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/FormatExtension.java
@@ -161,6 +161,12 @@ public void encoding(String charset) {
 	/** The files to be formatted = (target - targetExclude). */
 	protected FileCollection target, targetExclude;
 
+	/**
+	 * The values from which files will be excluded if their content contain at least one of the
+	 * `targetExcludeIfContentContains`.
+	 */
+	protected List<String> targetExcludeIfContentContains = new ArrayList<>();
+
 	protected boolean isLicenseHeaderStep(FormatterStep formatterStep) {
 		String formatterStepName = formatterStep.getName();
 
@@ -202,6 +208,11 @@ public void targetExclude(Object... targets) {
 		this.targetExclude = parseTargetsIsExclude(targets, true);
 	}
 
+	/** Excludes all files whose content contains at least one of the `values`. */
+	public void targetExcludeIfContentContains(String... values) {
+		this.targetExcludeIfContentContains.addAll(List.of(values));
+	}
+
 	private FileCollection parseTargetsIsExclude(Object[] targets, boolean isExclude) {
 		requireElementsNonNull(targets);
 		if (targets.length == 0) {
diff --git a/plugin-gradle/src/test/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/TargetExcludeIfContentContainsTest.java b/plugin-gradle/src/test/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/TargetExcludeIfContentContainsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66dfc60f4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin-gradle/src/test/java/com/diffplug/gradle/spotless/TargetExcludeIfContentContainsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020-2023 DiffPlug
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package com.diffplug.gradle.spotless;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+class TargetExcludeIfContentContainsTest extends GradleIntegrationHarness {
+	@Test
+	void targetExcludeIfContentContainsWithOneValue() throws IOException {
+		setFile("build.gradle").toLines(
+				"plugins { id 'com.diffplug.spotless' }",
+				"spotless {",
+				"  format 'toLower', {",
+				"    target '**/*.md'",
+				"    targetExcludeIfContentContains '// Generated by Mr. Roboto'",
+				"    custom 'lowercase', { str -> str.toLowerCase() }",
+				"    toggleOffOn()",
+				"  }",
+				"}");
+		String content = "// Generated by Mr. Roboto, do not edit.\n" +
+				"A B C\n" +
+				"D E F\n" +
+				"G H I";
+		setFile("test_generated.md").toContent(content);
+		setFile("test_manual.md").toLines(
+				"A B C",
+				"D E F",
+				"G H I");
+		gradleRunner().withArguments("spotlessApply").build();
+		// `test_generated` contains the excluding text so didn't change.
+		assertFile("test_generated.md").hasContent(content);
+		// `test_manual` does not so it changed.
+		assertFile("test_manual.md").hasLines(
+				"a b c",
+				"d e f",
+				"g h i");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void targetExcludeIfContentContainsWithMultipleValues() throws IOException {
+		setFile("build.gradle").toLines(
+				"plugins { id 'com.diffplug.spotless' }",
+				"spotless {",
+				"  format 'toLower', {",
+				"    target '**/*.md'",
+				"    targetExcludeIfContentContains '// Generated by Mr. Roboto', '// Generated by Mrs. Call'",
+				"    custom 'lowercase', { str -> str.toLowerCase() }",
+				"    toggleOffOn()",
+				"  }",
+				"}");
+		String robotoContent = "A B C\n" +
+				"// Generated by Mr. Roboto, do not edit.\n" +
+				"D E F\n" +
+				"G H I";
+		setFile("test_generated_roboto.md").toContent(robotoContent);
+		String callContent = "A B C\n" +
+				"D E F\n" +
+				"// Generated by Mrs. Call, do not edit.\n" +
+				"G H I";
+		setFile("test_generated_call.md").toContent(callContent);
+		String collaborationContent = "A B C\n" +
+				"// Generated by Mr. Roboto, do not edit.\n" +
+				"D E F\n" +
+				"// Generated by Mrs. Call, do not edit.\n" +
+				"G H I";
+		setFile("test_generated_collaboration.md").toContent(collaborationContent);
+		String intruderContent = "A B C\n" +
+				"// Generated by K2000, do not edit.\n" +
+				"D E F\n" +
+				"G H I";
+		setFile("test_generated_intruder.md").toContent(intruderContent);
+		setFile("test_manual.md").toLines(
+				"A B C",
+				"D E F",
+				"G H I");
+		gradleRunner().withArguments("spotlessApply").build();
+		// Part of the excluding values so has not changed.
+		assertFile("test_generated_roboto.md").hasContent(robotoContent);
+		// Part of the excluding values so has not changed.
+		assertFile("test_generated_call.md").hasContent(callContent);
+		// Part of the excluding values so has not changed.
+		assertFile("test_generated_collaboration.md").hasContent(collaborationContent);
+		// Not part of the excluding values so has changed.
+		assertFile("test_generated_intruder.md").hasContent(
+				"a b c\n" +
+						"// generated by k2000, do not edit.\n" +
+						"d e f\n" +
+						"g h i");
+		// `test_manual` does not so it changed.
+		assertFile("test_manual.md").hasLines(
+				"a b c",
+				"d e f",
+				"g h i");
+	}
+}