diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py b/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
index 120847bd5d7..ae6a834b999 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/makemessages.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import sys
 from itertools import dropwhile
 
 import django
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import CommandError, BaseCommand
 from django.core.management.utils import (handle_extensions, find_command,
     popen_wrapper)
@@ -56,8 +57,6 @@ class TranslatableFile(object):
 
         Uses the xgettext GNU gettext utility.
         """
-
-        from django.conf import settings
         from django.utils.translation import templatize
 
         if command.verbosity > 1:
@@ -218,9 +217,20 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         process_all = options.get('all')
         extensions = options.get('extensions')
         self.symlinks = options.get('symlinks')
+
+        # Need to ensure that the i18n framework is enabled
+        if settings.configured:
+            settings.USE_I18N = True
+        else:
+            settings.configure(USE_I18N=True)
+
         ignore_patterns = options.get('ignore_patterns')
         if options.get('use_default_ignore_patterns'):
             ignore_patterns += ['CVS', '.*', '*~', '*.pyc']
+        base_path = os.path.abspath('.')
+        for path in (settings.MEDIA_ROOT, settings.STATIC_ROOT):
+            if path and path.startswith(base_path):
+                ignore_patterns.append('%s*' % path[len(base_path) + 1:])
         self.ignore_patterns = list(set(ignore_patterns))
 
         # Avoid messing with mutable class variables
@@ -251,13 +261,6 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
             raise CommandError("Type '%s help %s' for usage information." % (
                 os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]), sys.argv[1]))
 
-        # Need to ensure that the i18n framework is enabled
-        from django.conf import settings
-        if settings.configured:
-            settings.USE_I18N = True
-        else:
-            settings.configure(USE_I18N=True)
-
         if self.verbosity > 1:
             self.stdout.write('examining files with the extensions: %s\n'
                              % get_text_list(list(self.extensions), 'and'))
diff --git a/tests/i18n/test_extraction.py b/tests/i18n/test_extraction.py
index 3e004acb9bf..c4cb56e65e5 100644
--- a/tests/i18n/test_extraction.py
+++ b/tests/i18n/test_extraction.py
@@ -25,12 +25,13 @@ from django.utils.translation import TranslatorCommentWarning
 
 LOCALE = 'de'
 has_xgettext = find_command('xgettext')
+this_directory = os.path.dirname(upath(__file__))
 
 
 @skipUnless(has_xgettext, 'xgettext is mandatory for extraction tests')
 class ExtractorTests(SimpleTestCase):
 
-    test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(upath(__file__)), 'commands'))
+    test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(this_directory, 'commands'))
 
     PO_FILE = 'locale/%s/LC_MESSAGES/django.po' % LOCALE
 
@@ -378,6 +379,17 @@ class IgnoredExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
             self.assertNotMsgId('This should be ignored.', po_contents)
             self.assertNotMsgId('This should be ignored too.', po_contents)
 
+    @override_settings(
+        STATIC_ROOT=os.path.join(this_directory, 'commands', 'static_root/'),
+        MEDIA_ROOT=os.path.join(this_directory, 'commands', 'media_root/'))
+    def test_media_static_dirs_ignored(self):
+        os.chdir(self.test_dir)
+        stdout = StringIO()
+        management.call_command('makemessages', locale=[LOCALE], verbosity=2, stdout=stdout)
+        data = stdout.getvalue()
+        self.assertIn("ignoring directory static_root", data)
+        self.assertIn("ignoring directory media_root", data)
+
 
 class SymlinkExtractorTests(ExtractorTests):
 
@@ -550,7 +562,7 @@ class ExcludedLocaleExtractionTests(ExtractorTests):
     LOCALES = ['en', 'fr', 'it']
     PO_FILE = 'locale/%s/LC_MESSAGES/django.po'
 
-    test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(upath(__file__)), 'exclude'))
+    test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(this_directory, 'exclude'))
 
     def _set_times_for_all_po_files(self):
         """
@@ -608,7 +620,7 @@ class CustomLayoutExtractionTests(ExtractorTests):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self._cwd = os.getcwd()
-        self.test_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(upath(__file__)), 'project_dir')
+        self.test_dir = os.path.join(this_directory, 'project_dir')
 
     def test_no_locale_raises(self):
         os.chdir(self.test_dir)
@@ -618,7 +630,7 @@ class CustomLayoutExtractionTests(ExtractorTests):
 
     @override_settings(
         LOCALE_PATHS=(os.path.join(
-            os.path.dirname(upath(__file__)), 'project_dir', 'project_locale'),)
+            this_directory, 'project_dir', 'project_locale'),)
     )
     def test_project_locale_paths(self):
         """