diff --git a/lib/git.zsh b/lib/git.zsh
index 76fe9b14..5f845311 100644
--- a/lib/git.zsh
+++ b/lib/git.zsh
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@ parse_git_dirty() {
     if [[ $POST_1_7_2_GIT -gt 0 ]]; then
           SUBMODULE_SYNTAX="--ignore-submodules=dirty"
     fi  
-    GIT_STATUS=$(git status -s ${SUBMODULE_SYNTAX} 2> /dev/null | tail -n1)
+    if [[ "$DISABLE_UNTRACKED_FILES_DIRTY" != "true" ]]; then
+        GIT_STATUS=$(git status -s ${SUBMODULE_SYNTAX} 2> /dev/null | tail -n1)
+    else
+        GIT_STATUS=$(git status -s ${SUBMODULE_SYNTAX} -uno 2> /dev/null | tail -n1)
+    fi
     if [[ -n $GIT_STATUS && "$GIT_STATUS" != "$CLEAN_MESSAGE" ]]; then
       echo "$ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_DIRTY"
     else
diff --git a/templates/zshrc.zsh-template b/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
index 2ea9934a..58f19355 100644
--- a/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
+++ b/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"
 # Uncomment following line if you want red dots to be displayed while waiting for completion
 # COMPLETION_WAITING_DOTS="true"
 
+# Uncomment following line if you want to disable marking untracked files under
+# VCS as dirty. This makes repository status check for large repositories much,
+# much faster.
+# DISABLE_UNTRACKED_FILES_DIRTY="true"
+
 # Which plugins would you like to load? (plugins can be found in ~/.oh-my-zsh/plugins/*)
 # Custom plugins may be added to ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/
 # Example format: plugins=(rails git textmate ruby lighthouse)