diff --git a/doc/nvim-tree-lua.txt b/doc/nvim-tree-lua.txt
index 86e85189ee2..78f0f7dd007 100644
--- a/doc/nvim-tree-lua.txt
+++ b/doc/nvim-tree-lua.txt
@@ -405,7 +405,8 @@ Here is a list of the options available in the setup call:
       type: `boolean`
       default: `false`
 
-  - |filters.custom|: custom list of string that will not be shown.
+  - |filters.custom|: custom list of vim regex for file/directory names that will not be shown.
+    Backslashes must be escaped e.g. "^\\.git". See |string-match|.
       type: `{string}`
       default: `{}`
 
diff --git a/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/filters.lua b/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/filters.lua
index 958a9a9bccc..8ec661e2e7f 100644
--- a/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/filters.lua
+++ b/lua/nvim-tree/explorer/filters.lua
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ function M.should_ignore(path)
   end
 
   local relpath = utils.path_relative(path, vim.loop.cwd())
-  if M.ignore_list[relpath] == true or M.ignore_list[basename] == true then
-    return true
+  for pat, _ in pairs(M.ignore_list) do
+    if vim.fn.match(relpath, pat) ~= -1 or vim.fn.match(basename, pat) ~= -1 then
+      return true
+    end
   end
 
   local idx = path:match ".+()%.[^.]+$"