diff --git a/lib/git.zsh b/lib/git.zsh
index fb4ad8ca6..3db83b6c2 100644
--- a/lib/git.zsh
+++ b/lib/git.zsh
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ function git_prompt_info() {
   echo "$ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_PREFIX${ref#refs/heads/}$(parse_git_dirty)$ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_SUFFIX"
 }
 
+# returns root of current repo
+function git_get_root() {
+  echo "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2> /dev/null)"
+}
 
 # Checks if working tree is dirty
 parse_git_dirty() {
@@ -71,7 +75,7 @@ git_prompt_status() {
 
 #compare the provided version of git to the version installed and on path
 #prints 1 if input version <= installed version
-#prints -1 otherwise 
+#prints -1 otherwise
 function git_compare_version() {
   local INPUT_GIT_VERSION=$1;
   local INSTALLED_GIT_VERSION
diff --git a/plugins/git/git.plugin.zsh b/plugins/git/git.plugin.zsh
index d3d3f702a..8b53147f8 100644
--- a/plugins/git/git.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/git/git.plugin.zsh
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ function current_repository() {
   echo $(git remote -v | cut -d':' -f 2)
 }
 
+# change workdir to repo's root (or do `cd` with no arguments if not in a repo)
+function toroot() {
+  builtin cd "`git_get_root`"
+}
+
 # these aliases take advantage of the previous function
 alias ggpull='git pull origin $(current_branch)'
 compdef ggpull=git
diff --git a/plugins/virtualenvwrapper/virtualenvwrapper.plugin.zsh b/plugins/virtualenvwrapper/virtualenvwrapper.plugin.zsh
index 5d0860400..3117bd189 100644
--- a/plugins/virtualenvwrapper/virtualenvwrapper.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/virtualenvwrapper/virtualenvwrapper.plugin.zsh
@@ -8,32 +8,38 @@ for wrapsource in "/usr/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh" "/usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrap
       # Automatically activate Git projects' virtual environments based on the
       # directory name of the project. Virtual environment name can be overridden
       # by placing a .venv file in the project root with a virtualenv name in it
-      function workon_cwd {
-          # Check that this is a Git repo
-          PROJECT_ROOT=`git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2> /dev/null`
-          if (( $? == 0 )); then
-              # Check for virtualenv name override
-              ENV_NAME=`basename "$PROJECT_ROOT"`
-              if [[ -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/.venv" ]]; then
-                  ENV_NAME=`cat "$PROJECT_ROOT/.venv"`
-              fi
-              # Activate the environment only if it is not already active
-              if [[ "$VIRTUAL_ENV" != "$WORKON_HOME/$ENV_NAME" ]]; then
-                  if [[ -e "$WORKON_HOME/$ENV_NAME/bin/activate" ]]; then
-                      workon "$ENV_NAME" && export CD_VIRTUAL_ENV="$ENV_NAME"
-                  fi
-              fi
-          elif [ $CD_VIRTUAL_ENV ]; then
-              # We've just left the repo, deactivate the environment
-              # Note: this only happens if the virtualenv was activated automatically
-              deactivate && unset CD_VIRTUAL_ENV
+      function _workon_cwd {
+        # Check that this is a Git repo and get its root
+        local repo_root=`git_get_root`
+        if [[ -n "$repo_root" ]]; then
+          local env_name=`basename "$repo_root"`
+          if [[ -f "$repo_root/.venv" ]]; then
+            env_name=`cat "$repo_root/.venv"`
           fi
-          unset PROJECT_ROOT
+          # Activate the environment only if it is not already active
+          if [[ "$VIRTUAL_ENV" != "$WORKON_HOME/$env_name" ]]; then
+            if [[ -e "$WORKON_HOME/$env_name/bin/activate" ]]; then
+              workon "$env_name" && export CD_VIRTUAL_ENV="$env_name"
+            else
+              _deactivate
+            fi
+          fi
+        else
+          # We've just left the repo, deactivate the environment
+          # Note: this only happens if the virtualenv was activated automatically
+          _deactivate
+        fi
+      }
+
+      function _deactivate() {
+        if [[ -n $CD_VIRTUAL_ENV ]]; then
+          deactivate && unset CD_VIRTUAL_ENV
+        fi
       }
 
       # New cd function that does the virtualenv magic
       function cd {
-          builtin cd "$@" && workon_cwd
+        builtin cd "$@" && _workon_cwd
       }
     fi
 
@@ -44,3 +50,5 @@ done
 if [ $WRAPPER_FOUND -eq 0 ] ; then
   print "zsh virtualenvwrapper plugin: Couldn't activate virtualenvwrapper. Please run \`pip install virtualenvwrapper\`."
 fi
+
+unset WRAPPER_FOUND