diff --git a/setuptools/tests/config/test_apply_pyprojecttoml.py b/setuptools/tests/config/test_apply_pyprojecttoml.py
index b822096363..ec9f602d33 100644
--- a/setuptools/tests/config/test_apply_pyprojecttoml.py
+++ b/setuptools/tests/config/test_apply_pyprojecttoml.py
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 """
 import io
 import re
+import tarfile
 from pathlib import Path
 from urllib.request import urlopen
 from unittest.mock import Mock
+from zipfile import ZipFile
 
 import pytest
 from ini2toml.api import Translator
@@ -18,7 +20,8 @@
 from setuptools.command.egg_info import write_requirements
 
 
-EXAMPLES = (Path(__file__).parent / "setupcfg_examples.txt").read_text()
+EXAMPLES_FILE = "setupcfg_examples.txt"
+EXAMPLES = (Path(__file__).parent / EXAMPLES_FILE).read_text()
 EXAMPLE_URLS = [x for x in EXAMPLES.splitlines() if not x.startswith("#")]
 DOWNLOAD_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "downloads"
 
@@ -276,6 +279,18 @@ def test_optional_dependencies_dont_remove_env_markers(self, tmp_path):
         assert "bar" in reqs
 
 
+class TestMeta:
+    def test_example_file_in_sdist(self, setuptools_sdist):
+        """Meta test to ensure tests can run from sdist"""
+        with tarfile.open(setuptools_sdist) as tar:
+            assert any(name.endswith(EXAMPLES_FILE) for name in tar.getnames())
+
+    def test_example_file_not_in_wheel(self, setuptools_wheel):
+        """Meta test to ensure auxiliary test files are not in wheel"""
+        with ZipFile(setuptools_wheel) as zipfile:
+            assert not any(name.endswith(EXAMPLES_FILE) for name in zipfile.namelist())
+
+
 # --- Auxiliary Functions ---