I'm going to step *way* back in this discussion. I've been able to replicate the issue, which is the first step to finding a thoughtful resolution:
(1) All prerequisites to actually run the signature test file are satisfied. (E.g. $ENV{TEST_SIGNATURE}, etc. (2) MANIFEST.SKIP is in MANIFEST.SKIP and thus not added to MANIFEST or copied to the distdir (where the signature test is actually run) (3) ExtUtils::Manifest version prior to 1.58 (4) Run: "perl Build.PL", "./Build disttest" Thus, two solutions immediately present themselves: (a) Do *not* skip MANIFEST.SKIP. This ensures that it winds up in distdir (including the explicit skip of MYMETA.yml). (b) Upgrade ExtUtils::Manifest to 1.58 (which includes MYMETA among the default skip list when no MANIFEST.SKIP exists) Both solutions work independently. I recommend doing both of them, on the off chance that some end user just happens to have set TEST_SIGNATURE and has a old version of ExtUtils::Manifest. -- David