diff --git a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/FileExtractor.java b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/FileExtractor.java
index 5ebd7374a77..42b4aa83c34 100644
--- a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/FileExtractor.java
+++ b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/FileExtractor.java
@@ -549,10 +549,15 @@ public class FileExtractor {
           new TextualExtractor(
               trapwriter, locationManager, source, config.getExtractLines(), metrics, extractedFile);
       ParseResultInfo loc = extractor.extract(textualExtractor);
-      int numLines = textualExtractor.isSnippet() ? 0 : textualExtractor.getNumLines();
-      int linesOfCode = loc.getLinesOfCode(), linesOfComments = loc.getLinesOfComments();
-      trapwriter.addTuple("numlines", fileLabel, numLines, linesOfCode, linesOfComments);
-      trapwriter.addTuple("filetype", fileLabel, fileType.toString());
+      if (loc.getSkipReason() != null) {
+        System.err.println("Skipping file " + extractedFile + ": " + loc.getSkipReason());
+        System.err.flush();
+      } else{
+        int numLines = textualExtractor.isSnippet() ? 0 : textualExtractor.getNumLines();
+        int linesOfCode = loc.getLinesOfCode(), linesOfComments = loc.getLinesOfComments();
+        trapwriter.addTuple("numlines", fileLabel, numLines, linesOfCode, linesOfComments);
+        trapwriter.addTuple("filetype", fileLabel, fileType.toString());
+      }
       metrics.stopPhase(ExtractionPhase.FileExtractor_extractContents);
       metrics.writeTimingsToTrap(trapwriter);
       successful = true;
diff --git a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ParseResultInfo.java b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ParseResultInfo.java
index 6a1b14447ce..28b412207d4 100644
--- a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ParseResultInfo.java
+++ b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ParseResultInfo.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 public class ParseResultInfo {
   private int linesOfCode, linesOfComments;
   private List<ParseError> parseErrors;
+  private String skipReason;
 
   public ParseResultInfo(int linesOfCode, int linesOfComments, List<ParseError> parseErrors) {
     this.linesOfCode = linesOfCode;
@@ -17,6 +18,19 @@ public class ParseResultInfo {
     this.parseErrors = new ArrayList<>(parseErrors);
   }
 
+  private ParseResultInfo() {
+    this.linesOfCode = 0;
+    this.linesOfComments = 0;
+    this.parseErrors = new ArrayList<>();
+    this.skipReason = null;
+  }
+
+  public static final ParseResultInfo skipped(String reason) {
+    ParseResultInfo info = new ParseResultInfo();
+    info.skipReason = reason;
+    return info;
+  }
+
   public void add(ParseResultInfo that) {
     this.linesOfCode += that.linesOfCode;
     this.linesOfComments += that.linesOfComments;
@@ -41,4 +55,11 @@ public class ParseResultInfo {
   public List<ParseError> getParseErrors() {
     return parseErrors;
   }
+
+  /**
+   * If extraction of this file was skipped, gets the reason for skipping it.
+   */
+  public String getSkipReason() {
+    return skipReason;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ScriptExtractor.java b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ScriptExtractor.java
index 7c539d70e63..6c9bfd2725c 100644
--- a/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ScriptExtractor.java
+++ b/javascript/extractor/src/com/semmle/js/extractor/ScriptExtractor.java
@@ -38,10 +38,34 @@ public class ScriptExtractor implements IExtractor {
     return extension.equals(".cjs") || (extension.equals(".js") && "commonjs".equals(packageType));
   }
 
+  private boolean isMinified(String source) {
+    // If the average line length is over 200 characters, consider the file minified.
+    int numberOfLineBreaks = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i < source.length(); i++) {
+      char c = source.charAt(i);
+      if (c == '\n') {
+        numberOfLineBreaks++;
+      } else if (c == '\r') {
+        numberOfLineBreaks++;
+        if (i + 1 < source.length() && source.charAt(i + 1) == '\n') {
+          i++; // skip the next \n in case of \r\n
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    int averageLineLength =
+        numberOfLineBreaks == 0 ? source.length() : source.length() / numberOfLineBreaks;
+    return averageLineLength > 200;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public ParseResultInfo extract(TextualExtractor textualExtractor) {
     LocationManager locationManager = textualExtractor.getLocationManager();
     String source = textualExtractor.getSource();
+
+    if (isMinified(source)) {
+      return ParseResultInfo.skipped("File appears to be minified.");
+    }
+
     String shebangLine = null, shebangLineTerm = null;
 
     if (source.startsWith("#!")) {