diff --git a/lib/grep.zsh b/lib/grep.zsh
index df9146aa4..933de2990 100644
--- a/lib/grep.zsh
+++ b/lib/grep.zsh
@@ -4,37 +4,36 @@ if (( $#_grep_alias_cache )); then
     source "$ZSH_CACHE_DIR"/grep_alias.zsh
 else
     # is x grep argument available?
-    grep-flag-available() {
-        echo | grep $1 "" >/dev/null 2>&1
+    grep-flags-available() {
+        echo | grep "$@" "" >/dev/null 2>&1
     }
 
     GREP_OPTIONS=""
 
-    # color grep results
-    if grep-flag-available --color=auto; then
-        GREP_OPTIONS+=" --color=auto"
-    fi
-
     # ignore these folders (if the necessary grep flags are available)
     EXC_FOLDERS="{.bzr,CVS,.git,.hg,.svn,.idea,.tox}"
 
-    if grep-flag-available --exclude-dir=.cvs; then
-        GREP_OPTIONS+=" --exclude-dir=$EXC_FOLDERS"
-    elif grep-flag-available --exclude=.cvs; then
-        GREP_OPTIONS+=" --exclude=$EXC_FOLDERS"
+    if grep-flags-available --color=auto --exclude-dir=.cvs; then
+        GREP_OPTIONS+="--color=auto --exclude-dir=$EXC_FOLDERS"
+    elif grep-flags-available --color=auto --exclude=.cvs; then
+        GREP_OPTIONS+="--color=auto --exclude=$EXC_FOLDERS"
+    elif grep-flags-available --color=auto; then
+        GREP_OPTIONS+="--color=auto"
     fi
 
     {
-        # export grep, egrep and fgrep settings
-        echo alias grep="'grep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
-        echo alias egrep="'egrep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
-        echo alias fgrep="'fgrep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
+        if [[ -n "$GREP_OPTIONS" ]]; then
+            # export grep, egrep and fgrep settings
+            echo alias grep="'grep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
+            echo alias egrep="'egrep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
+            echo alias fgrep="'fgrep $GREP_OPTIONS'"
+        fi
     } > "$ZSH_CACHE_DIR/grep_alias.zsh"
 
     source "$ZSH_CACHE_DIR/grep_alias.zsh"
 
     # clean up
     unset GREP_OPTIONS EXC_FOLDERS
-    unfunction grep-flag-available
+    unfunction grep-flags-available
 fi
 unset _grep_alias_cache