diff --git a/Cabal/Distribution/PackageDescription/Check.hs b/Cabal/Distribution/PackageDescription/Check.hs
index 9bae54e14ff..b9869abf605 100644
--- a/Cabal/Distribution/PackageDescription/Check.hs
+++ b/Cabal/Distribution/PackageDescription/Check.hs
@@ -1045,6 +1045,15 @@ checkPaths pkg =
   , (GHC, flags) <- options bi
   , path <- flags
   , isInsideDist path ]
+  ++
+  [ PackageBuildWarning $
+        "Using a '*' character in 'data-dir', like " ++ path ++ ", can behave"
+     ++ " erratically with prior versions of Cabal. It is recommended that you"
+     ++ " set 'cabal-version: 3.0' to exclude old versions."
+  | path <- [dataDir pkg]
+  , specVersion pkg < mkVersion [3,0]
+  , '*' `elem` path
+  ]
   where
     isOutsideTree path = case splitDirectories path of
       "..":_     -> True
diff --git a/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/SrcDist.hs b/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/SrcDist.hs
index 1011788f02e..ba57d970e5c 100644
--- a/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/SrcDist.hs
+++ b/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/SrcDist.hs
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ listPackageSourcesOrdinary verbosity pkg_descr pps =
 
     -- Data files.
   , fmap concat
-    . for (dataFiles pkg_descr) $ \filename ->
-       matchFileGlob (dataDir pkg_descr </> filename)
+    . for (dataFiles pkg_descr) $ \ filename -> fmap (fmap (dataDir pkg_descr </>)) $
+        matchDirFileGlob (dataDir pkg_descr) filename
 
     -- Extra doc files.
   , fmap concat
diff --git a/cabal-install/changelog b/cabal-install/changelog
index 4cf826f8761..0bfc548ad18 100644
--- a/cabal-install/changelog
+++ b/cabal-install/changelog
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 -*-change-log-*-
 
+2.3.0.0 (current development version)
+        * `cabal sdist` would error out when `data-dir` included `*`
+        characters. These are now correctly treated as inert.
+
 2.2.0.0 (current development version)
         * '--with-PROG' and '--PROG-options' are applied to all packages
 	and not local packages only (#5019).
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/Main.hs b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/Main.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b3549c2fe3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/Main.hs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+main = return ()
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/data/blah/a.dat b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/data/blah/a.dat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..907b308167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/data/blah/a.dat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+blah
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-doc/blah/a.tex b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-doc/blah/a.tex
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..907b308167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-doc/blah/a.tex
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+blah
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-src/blah/a.html b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-src/blah/a.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..907b308167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/extra-src/blah/a.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+blah
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c0c0abfb781
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+cabal-version: 2.2
+name: list-sources
+version: 0
+data-dir: data
+data-files: blah/*.dat
+extra-source-files: extra-src/blah/*.html
+extra-doc-files: extra-doc/blah/*.tex
+
+executable dummy
+  default-language: Haskell2010
+  main-is: Main.hs
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f6b12649785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.cabal.out
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# cabal sdist
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-d7916f39/sources'
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-d7916f39/sources'
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9386a7f81ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.out
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# cabal sdist
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-f48849cb/sources'
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-f48849cb/sources'
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.test.hs b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.test.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..031d47fc86b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/ListSources/list-sources.test.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class
+import System.IO.Temp (withSystemTempDirectory)
+import Test.Cabal.Prelude
+main = setupAndCabalTest $ withSystemTempDirectory "cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist" $ \dir -> do
+  let fn = dir </> "sources"
+  cabal "sdist" ["--list-sources=" ++ fn]
+  liftIO $ putStrLn =<< readFile fn
+  assertFileDoesContain fn "data/blah/a.dat"
+  assertFileDoesContain fn "extra-src/blah/a.html"
+  assertFileDoesContain fn "extra-doc/blah/a.tex"
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/*/a.dat b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/*/a.dat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..907b308167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/*/a.dat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+blah
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/Main.hs b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/Main.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b3549c2fe3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/Main.hs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+main = return ()
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/a/a.dat b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/a/a.dat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..907b308167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/a/a.dat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+blah
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.cabal.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.cabal.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fa6fca5a423
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.cabal.out
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# cabal sdist
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-c7bfa464/sources'
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-c7bfa464/sources'
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f5fbd875de1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.out
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# cabal sdist
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-8306c552/sources'
+List of package sources written to file '/tmp/cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist-8306c552/sources'
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.test.hs b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.test.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cfb95610466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/included-in-sdist.test.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class
+import System.FilePath (normalise)
+import System.IO.Temp (withSystemTempDirectory)
+import Test.Cabal.Prelude
+main = setupAndCabalTest $ withSystemTempDirectory "cabal-testsuite.included-in-sdist" $ \dir -> do
+  let fn = dir </> "sources"
+  cabal "sdist" ["--list-sources=" ++ fn]
+  files <- liftIO $ fmap (fmap normalise . lines) $ readFile fn
+  assertBool "has */a.dat" ("*/a.dat" `elem` files)
+  assertBool "hasn't a/a.dat" $ not ("a/a.dat" `elem` files)
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/star-in-data-dir.cabal b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/star-in-data-dir.cabal
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3429629b2b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/star-in-data-dir.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+cabal-version: 2.2
+name: star-in-data-dir
+version: 0
+data-dir: *
+data-files: *.dat
+
+executable dummy
+  default-language: Haskell2010
+  main-is: Main.hs
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.cabal.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.cabal.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2f594958dda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.cabal.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# cabal sdist
+Distribution quality errors:
+No 'synopsis' or 'description' field.
+The 'license' field is missing or is NONE.
+Using a '*' character in 'data-dir', like *, can behave erratically with prior versions of Cabal. It is recommended that you set 'cabal-version: 3.0' to exclude old versions.
+Distribution quality warnings:
+No 'category' field.
+No 'maintainer' field.
+Note: the public hackage server would reject this package.
+Warning: Cannot run preprocessors. Run 'configure' command first.
+Building source dist for star-in-data-dir-0...
+Source tarball created: <ROOT>/warning-issued.cabal.dist/work/./dist/star-in-data-dir-0.tar.gz
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.out b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6216a966eb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# cabal sdist
+Distribution quality errors:
+No 'synopsis' or 'description' field.
+The 'license' field is missing or is NONE.
+Using a '*' character in 'data-dir', like *, can behave erratically with prior versions of Cabal. It is recommended that you set 'cabal-version: 3.0' to exclude old versions.
+Distribution quality warnings:
+No 'category' field.
+No 'maintainer' field.
+Note: the public hackage server would reject this package.
+Warning: Cannot run preprocessors. Run 'configure' command first.
+Building source dist for star-in-data-dir-0...
+Source tarball created: <ROOT>/warning-issued.dist/work/./dist/star-in-data-dir-0.tar.gz
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.test.hs b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.test.hs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..68fe11b6dda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/PackageTests/SDist/StarInDataDir/warning-issued.test.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import Test.Cabal.Prelude
+main = setupAndCabalTest $ do
+  output <- cabal' "sdist" []
+  assertOutputContains "Using a '*' character in 'data-dir'" output
diff --git a/cabal-testsuite/cabal-testsuite.cabal b/cabal-testsuite/cabal-testsuite.cabal
index 05604c69e19..bcbe695b7e3 100644
--- a/cabal-testsuite/cabal-testsuite.cabal
+++ b/cabal-testsuite/cabal-testsuite.cabal
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ library
     filepath,
     regex-compat-tdfa,
     regex-tdfa,
+    temporary,
     text,
     Cabal >= 2.3
   ghc-options: -Wall -fwarn-tabs