diff --git a/debian/gbp.conf b/debian/gbp.conf
index 85d542409..4209d43e2 100644
--- a/debian/gbp.conf
+++ b/debian/gbp.conf
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 [DEFAULT]
 debian-branch = main
 
+[buildpackage]
+export-dir = ../build-area/
+
 [dch]
 git-log = --no-merges
 multimaint-merge = True