diff --git a/build-python.sh b/build-python.sh
index 1dd8bc9fe966..bcd8cb2657ba 100755
--- a/build-python.sh
+++ b/build-python.sh
@@ -279,21 +279,10 @@ create_isolated_source_dir() {
     # compute (Boost) #
     ###################
     mkdir -p ./lightgbm-python/compile/external_libs/compute
-    cp \
-        external_libs/compute/CMakeLists.txt \
-        ./lightgbm-python/compile/external_libs/compute/
-    cp \
-        -R \
-        external_libs/compute/cmake \
-        ./lightgbm-python/compile/external_libs/compute/cmake/
     cp \
         -R \
         external_libs/compute/include \
         ./lightgbm-python/compile/external_libs/compute/include/
-    cp \
-        -R \
-        external_libs/compute/meta \
-        ./lightgbm-python/compile/external_libs/compute/meta/
 }
 
 create_isolated_source_dir