diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index c13394558f..7ce83c5527 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 prune tests
-include README_smart_holder.rst
 recursive-include pybind11/include/pybind11 *.h
 recursive-include pybind11 *.py
 recursive-include pybind11 py.typed
diff --git a/tests/extra_python_package/test_files.py b/tests/extra_python_package/test_files.py
index 4cd4bedfd8..b01b49867f 100644
--- a/tests/extra_python_package/test_files.py
+++ b/tests/extra_python_package/test_files.py
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@
     "LICENSE",
     "MANIFEST.in",
     "README.rst",
-    "README_smart_holder.rst",
     "PKG-INFO",
     "SECURITY.md",
 }