diff --git a/cmd/repo-health-checker/main.go b/cmd/repo-health-checker/main.go
index bba0991..da6c97e 100644
--- a/cmd/repo-health-checker/main.go
+++ b/cmd/repo-health-checker/main.go
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ func main() {
 	showVersion := flag.Bool("version", false, "print current version")
 	rootDir := flag.String("root", ".", "root dir for forbidden files check")
 	repoSize := flag.Float64("repoSize", 2, "maximum size of the repo in MiB")
+	// TODO: remove localList, it is only for backward compatibility now
 	localList := flag.String("localList", "", "local file list for non-ascii file check")
 	checkFileNameList := flag.String("checkFileNameList", "", "comma-separated list of files to check")
 	checkFileSumList := flag.String("checkFileSumList", "", "comma-separated list of expected checksums")
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("### Forbidden File Check Failed:\n%s\n", err.Error())
 	}
-	err = healthcheck.NonAsciiFiles(*rootDir, *localList)
+	err = healthcheck.NonAsciiFiles(*rootDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("### Non-ASCII Characters File Check Failed:\n%s\n", err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/healthcheck/nonascii.go b/pkg/healthcheck/nonascii.go
index 0204c3c..c61002d 100644
--- a/pkg/healthcheck/nonascii.go
+++ b/pkg/healthcheck/nonascii.go
@@ -8,46 +8,57 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode"
+
+	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5/plumbing/format/gitattributes"
 )
 
 // getNonAscii retrieves a list of files in the specified root directory that contain non-ASCII characters.
 // It searches for non-ASCII characters in each file's content and returns a list of paths to files containing non-ASCII characters.
-func getNonAscii(root string, localList string) ([]string, error) {
+func getNonAscii(root string) ([]string, error) {
 	var nonAscii []string
-
-	var dirs []string
-
-	if localList != "" {
-		file, err := os.Open(localList)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to open file %s: %v\n", localList, err)
-		}
-		defer file.Close()
-
-		scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
-		for scanner.Scan() {
-			dirs = append(dirs, scanner.Text())
-		}
-		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error reading file %s: %v\n", localList, err)
-		}
+	gitattrExist := true
+	var matcher gitattributes.Matcher
+	_, err := os.Stat(".gitattributes")
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		gitattrExist = false
 	}
 
-	err := filepath.Walk(root, func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+	if gitattrExist {
+		fs := os.DirFS(".")
+		f, err := fs.Open(".gitattributes")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		attribute, err := gitattributes.ReadAttributes(f, nil, true)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		matcher = gitattributes.NewMatcher(attribute)
+	}
+
+	err = filepath.Walk(root, func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
 		if info.IsDir() {
-			if info.Name() == ".git" || info.Name() == ".gitea" || info.Name() == "ci" || (localList != "" && inString(info.Name(), dirs)) {
+			if info.Name() == ".git" {
 				return filepath.SkipDir
 			} else {
 				return nil
 			}
 		}
 
-		if info.Name() == "healthcheck" {
-			return nil
+		if gitattrExist {
+			relPath, err := filepath.Rel(root, path)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			ret, matched := matcher.Match(strings.Split(relPath, "/"), nil)
+			if matched && ret["text"].IsUnset() {
+				return nil
+			}
 		}
 
 		file, err := os.Open(path)
@@ -79,8 +90,8 @@ func getNonAscii(root string, localList string) ([]string, error) {
 
 // nonAsciiFiles checks for non-ASCII characters in files within the specified root directory.
 // It prints a message with the paths to files containing non-ASCII characters, if any.
-func NonAsciiFiles(root string, localList string) error {
-	nonAscii, err := getNonAscii(root, localList)
+func NonAsciiFiles(root string) error {
+	nonAscii, err := getNonAscii(root)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("getting non-ascii", "err", err)
 		return fmt.Errorf("error getting non-ascii: %w", err)
diff --git a/pkg/healthcheck/utils.go b/pkg/healthcheck/utils.go
index 005379a..8939f22 100644
--- a/pkg/healthcheck/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/healthcheck/utils.go
@@ -5,15 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 )
 
-func inString(str1 string, strList []string) bool {
-	for _, str := range strList {
-		if str1 == str {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 // addExt appends the specified extension to each file name in the given fileList.
 // It modifies the original fileList in place.
 func addExt(fileList []string, ext string) {