1 files changed, 21 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/setuptools/command/sdist.py b/setuptools/command/sdist.py
index bcfae4d8..dc253981 100644
--- a/setuptools/command/sdist.py
+++ b/setuptools/command/sdist.py
@@ -198,3 +198,24 @@ class sdist(sdist_add_defaults, orig.sdist):
                 continue
             self.filelist.append(line)
         manifest.close()
+
+    def check_license(self):
+        """Checks if license_file' is configured and adds it to
+        'self.filelist' if the value contains a valid path.
+        """
+
+        opts = self.distribution.get_option_dict('metadata')
+
+        # ignore the source of the value
+        _, license_file = opts.get('license_file', (None, None))
+
+        if license_file is None:
+            log.debug("'license_file' option was not specified")
+            return
+
+        if not os.path.exists(license_file):
+            log.warn("warning: Failed to find the configured license file '%s'",
+                    license_file)
+            return
+
+        self.filelist.append(license_file)