diff --git a/internal/snapshot/exclude_test.go b/internal/snapshot/exclude_test.go
index 48deb70..b194972 100644
--- a/internal/snapshot/exclude_test.go
+++ b/internal/snapshot/exclude_test.go
@@ -578,3 +578,52 @@ func TestExcludePatterns_DoubleStarFileAtEveryDepth(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, 1, result.FilesScanned,
 		"**/ file pattern should match at the top level and nested")
 }
+
+func TestExcludePatterns_AnchoredDoubleStarAtEveryDepth(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// As in gitignore, /**/ also matches directly under the source dir
+	fs := setupAnchoredTestFS(t)
+
+	scanner, repos, cleanup := createTestScanner(t, fs, []string{"/**/projectname"})
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	createSnapshotRecord(ctx, t, repos, "test-snapshot")
+
+	result, err := scanner.Scan(ctx, "/backup", "test-snapshot")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// /**/projectname should exclude BOTH:
+	// - /backup/projectname/file.txt
+	// - /backup/otherproject/projectname/file.txt
+	// Total files: 4, excluded: 2
+	require.Equal(t, 2, result.FilesScanned,
+		"/**/ pattern should match at the top level and nested")
+}
+
+func TestExcludePatterns_DoubleStarInMiddleMatchesZeroDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// As in gitignore, a/**/b matches a/b as well as a/c/b. The last part
+	// is a glob: with a plain name the glob library already matched a/b.
+	fs := &afero.MemMapFs{}
+	for _, path := range []string{"/backup/a/x.log", "/backup/a/c/y.log", "/backup/a/c/kept.txt"} {
+		require.NoError(t, fs.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), 0755))
+		require.NoError(t, afero.WriteFile(fs, path, []byte(path), 0644))
+	}
+
+	scanner, repos, cleanup := createTestScanner(t, fs, []string{"a/**/*.log"})
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	createSnapshotRecord(ctx, t, repos, "test-snapshot")
+
+	result, err := scanner.Scan(ctx, "/backup", "test-snapshot")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// a/**/*.log should exclude /backup/a/x.log and /backup/a/c/y.log
+	// Total files: 3, excluded: 2
+	require.Equal(t, 1, result.FilesScanned,
+		"a/**/*.log should match a/x.log as well as a/c/y.log")
+}
diff --git a/internal/snapshot/scanner.go b/internal/snapshot/scanner.go
index 32441cf..ab117de 100644
--- a/internal/snapshot/scanner.go
+++ b/internal/snapshot/scanner.go
@@ -2023,13 +2023,20 @@ func compileExcludePatterns(patterns []string) []compiledPattern {
 		pattern = strings.TrimSuffix(pattern, "/")
 
 		// A leading "**/" demands a "/" before the name and so misses an
-		// entry directly under the source path. An unanchored pattern
-		// already matches at every depth, so drop the prefix: as in
-		// gitignore, "**/x" then also matches a top-level "x".
-		if !anchored {
+		// entry directly under the source path. It means "at every depth",
+		// which is what an unanchored pattern already does, so drop the
+		// prefix and match unanchored: as in gitignore, "**/x" and
+		// "/**/x" then also match a top-level "x".
+		if strings.HasPrefix(pattern, "**/") {
 			pattern = strings.TrimPrefix(pattern, "**/")
+			anchored = false
 		}
 
+		// Likewise "/**/" inside a pattern demands two slashes, so
+		// "a/**/b" misses "a/b". As in gitignore it stands for zero or
+		// more directories, so let it match a single "/" too.
+		pattern = strings.ReplaceAll(pattern, "/**/", "{/,/**/}")
+
 		// Compile the glob pattern
 		// For patterns without path separators, we need to match them as components
 		// e.g., ".git" should match ".git" anywhere in the path