diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py b/Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py
index 48cb26b..21ea61d 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py
@@ -174,14 +174,20 @@
         reading the manifest, or just using the default file set -- it all
         depends on the user's options.
         """
-        # new behavior:
+        # new behavior when using a template:
         # the file list is recalculated everytime because
         # even if MANIFEST.in or setup.py are not changed
         # the user might have added some files in the tree that
         # need to be included.
         #
-        #  This makes --force the default and only behavior.
+        #  This makes --force the default and only behavior with templates.
         template_exists = os.path.isfile(self.template)
+        if not template_exists and self._manifest_is_not_generated():
+            self.read_manifest()
+            self.filelist.sort()
+            self.filelist.remove_duplicates()
+            return
+
         if not template_exists:
             self.warn(("manifest template '%s' does not exist " +
                         "(using default file list)") %
@@ -336,23 +342,28 @@
         by 'add_defaults()' and 'read_template()') to the manifest file
         named by 'self.manifest'.
         """
-        if os.path.isfile(self.manifest):
-            fp = open(self.manifest)
-            try:
-                first_line = fp.readline()
-            finally:
-                fp.close()
-
-            if first_line != '# file GENERATED by distutils, do NOT edit\n':
-                log.info("not writing to manually maintained "
-                         "manifest file '%s'" % self.manifest)
-                return
+        if self._manifest_is_not_generated():
+            log.info("not writing to manually maintained "
+                     "manifest file '%s'" % self.manifest)
+            return
 
         content = self.filelist.files[:]
         content.insert(0, '# file GENERATED by distutils, do NOT edit')
         self.execute(file_util.write_file, (self.manifest, content),
                      "writing manifest file '%s'" % self.manifest)
 
+    def _manifest_is_not_generated(self):
+        # check for special comment used in 3.1.3 and higher
+        if not os.path.isfile(self.manifest):
+            return False
+
+        fp = open(self.manifest)
+        try:
+            first_line = fp.readline()
+        finally:
+            fp.close()
+        return first_line != '# file GENERATED by distutils, do NOT edit\n'
+
     def read_manifest(self):
         """Read the manifest file (named by 'self.manifest') and use it to
         fill in 'self.filelist', the list of files to include in the source
@@ -360,12 +371,11 @@
         """
         log.info("reading manifest file '%s'", self.manifest)
         manifest = open(self.manifest)
-        while True:
-            line = manifest.readline()
-            if line == '':              # end of file
-                break
-            if line[-1] == '\n':
-                line = line[0:-1]
+        for line in manifest:
+            # ignore comments and blank lines
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line.startswith('#') or not line:
+                continue
             self.filelist.append(line)
         manifest.close()
 
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
index c7dd47f..440af98 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
@@ -1,21 +1,19 @@
 """Tests for distutils.command.sdist."""
 import os
+import tarfile
 import unittest
-import shutil
+import warnings
 import zipfile
 from os.path import join
-import sys
-import tempfile
-import warnings
+from textwrap import dedent
 
 from test.support import captured_stdout, check_warnings, run_unittest
 
 from distutils.command.sdist import sdist, show_formats
 from distutils.core import Distribution
 from distutils.tests.test_config import PyPIRCCommandTestCase
-from distutils.errors import DistutilsExecError, DistutilsOptionError
+from distutils.errors import DistutilsOptionError
 from distutils.spawn import find_executable
-from distutils.tests import support
 from distutils.log import WARN
 from distutils.archive_util import ARCHIVE_FORMATS
 
@@ -346,13 +344,33 @@
         self.assertEqual(manifest[0],
                          '# file GENERATED by distutils, do NOT edit')
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(ZLIB_SUPPORT, "Need zlib support to run")
+    def test_manifest_comments(self):
+        # make sure comments don't cause exceptions or wrong includes
+        contents = dedent("""\
+            # bad.py
+            #bad.py
+            good.py
+            """)
+        dist, cmd = self.get_cmd()
+        cmd.ensure_finalized()
+        self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, cmd.manifest), contents)
+        self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, 'good.py'), '# pick me!')
+        self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, 'bad.py'), "# don't pick me!")
+        self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, '#bad.py'), "# don't pick me!")
+        cmd.run()
+        self.assertEqual(cmd.filelist.files, ['good.py'])
+
     @unittest.skipUnless(ZLIB_SUPPORT, 'Need zlib support to run')
     def test_manual_manifest(self):
         # check that a MANIFEST without a marker is left alone
         dist, cmd = self.get_cmd()
         cmd.ensure_finalized()
         self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, cmd.manifest), 'README.manual')
+        self.write_file((self.tmp_dir, 'README.manual'),
+                         'This project maintains its MANIFEST file itself.')
         cmd.run()
+        self.assertEqual(cmd.filelist.files, ['README.manual'])
 
         f = open(cmd.manifest)
         try:
@@ -363,6 +381,15 @@
 
         self.assertEqual(manifest, ['README.manual'])
 
+        archive_name = join(self.tmp_dir, 'dist', 'fake-1.0.tar.gz')
+        archive = tarfile.open(archive_name)
+        try:
+            filenames = [tarinfo.name for tarinfo in archive]
+        finally:
+            archive.close()
+        self.assertEqual(sorted(filenames), ['fake-1.0', 'fake-1.0/PKG-INFO',
+                                             'fake-1.0/README.manual'])
+
 def test_suite():
     return unittest.makeSuite(SDistTestCase)