diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 1aff3a7216d..c5a34c4e06d 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -877,6 +877,17 @@ category = "main"
 optional = false
 python-versions = "*"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "xattr"
+version = "0.9.7"
+description = "Python wrapper for extended filesystem attributes"
+category = "main"
+optional = false
+python-versions = "*"
+
+[package.dependencies]
+cffi = ">=1.0.0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zipp"
 version = "3.8.0"
@@ -1479,6 +1490,12 @@ webencodings = [
     {file = "webencodings-0.5.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a0af1213f3c2226497a97e2b3aa01a7e4bee4f403f95be16fc9acd2947514a78"},
     {file = "webencodings-0.5.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:b36a1c245f2d304965eb4e0a82848379241dc04b865afcc4aab16748587e1923"},
 ]
+xattr = [
+    {file = "xattr-0.9.7-cp27-cp27m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:1b2cd125150aa9bbfb02929627101b3303920a68487e9c865ddd170188ddd796"},
+    {file = "xattr-0.9.7-cp36-cp36m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:e2c72a3a501bac715489180ca2b646e48a1ca3a794c1103dd6f0f987d43f570c"},
+    {file = "xattr-0.9.7-cp37-cp37m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:1e11ba8ab86dfe74419704c53722ea9b5915833db07416e7c10db5dfb02218bb"},
+    {file = "xattr-0.9.7.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:b0bbca828e04ef2d484a6522ae7b3a7ccad5e43fa1c6f54d78e24bb870f49d44"},
+]
 zipp = [
     {file = "zipp-3.8.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:c4f6e5bbf48e74f7a38e7cc5b0480ff42b0ae5178957d564d18932525d5cf099"},
     {file = "zipp-3.8.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:56bf8aadb83c24db6c4b577e13de374ccfb67da2078beba1d037c17980bf43ad"},
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e8f7edfb0e0..02bfc439bf7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ shellingham = "^1.1"
 tomlkit = ">=0.7.0,<1.0.0"
 # exclude 20.4.5 - 20.4.6 due to https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/9953
 virtualenv = "(>=20.4.3,<20.4.5 || >=20.4.7)"
+xattr = { version = "^0.9.7", markers = "sys_platform == 'darwin'" }
 urllib3 = "^1.26.0"
 dulwich = "^0.20.35"
 
@@ -157,6 +158,7 @@ module = [
   'requests_toolbelt.*',
   'shellingham.*',
   'virtualenv.*',
+  'xattr.*',
 ]
 ignore_missing_imports = true
 
diff --git a/src/poetry/utils/env.py b/src/poetry/utils/env.py
index 27d920efc68..b671c37253c 100644
--- a/src/poetry/utils/env.py
+++ b/src/poetry/utils/env.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import json
 import os
 import platform
+import plistlib
 import re
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -1087,7 +1088,20 @@ def build_venv(
 
         args.append(str(path))
 
-        return virtualenv.cli_run(args)
+        cli_result = virtualenv.cli_run(args)
+
+        # Exclude the venv folder from from macOS Time Machine backups
+        # TODO: Add backup-ignore markers for other platforms too
+        if sys.platform == "darwin":
+            import xattr
+
+            xattr.setxattr(
+                str(path),
+                "com.apple.metadata:com_apple_backup_excludeItem",
+                plistlib.dumps("com.apple.backupd", fmt=plistlib.FMT_BINARY),
+            )
+
+        return cli_result
 
     @classmethod
     def remove_venv(cls, path: Path | str) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_env.py b/tests/utils/test_env.py
index 4ffdb89212b..ecb0fdc6f80 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_env.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_env.py
@@ -96,6 +96,27 @@ def test_virtualenvs_with_spaces_in_their_path_work_as_expected(
     assert venv.run("python", "-V", shell=True).startswith("Python")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != "darwin", reason="requires darwin")
+def test_venv_backup_exclusion(tmp_dir: str, manager: EnvManager):
+    import xattr
+
+    venv_path = Path(tmp_dir) / "Virtual Env"
+
+    manager.build_venv(str(venv_path))
+
+    value = (
+        b"bplist00_\x10\x11com.apple.backupd"
+        b"\x08\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00"
+        b"\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x1c"
+    )
+    assert (
+        xattr.getxattr(
+            str(venv_path), "com.apple.metadata:com_apple_backup_excludeItem"
+        )
+        == value
+    )
+
+
 def test_env_commands_with_spaces_in_their_arg_work_as_expected(
     tmp_dir: str, manager: EnvManager
 ):