diff --git a/.vim/vimrc b/.vim/vimrc
index ad6ff83..6e06170 100644
--- a/.vim/vimrc
+++ b/.vim/vimrc
@@ -945,6 +945,19 @@ set cursorlineopt=number
 hi CursorLineNR cterm=bold
 syntax sync minlines=256
 
+" vim help had this to say about 'exrc':
+"
+" Enables the reading of .vimrc, .exrc and .gvimrc in the current directory.
+" Setting this option is a potential security leak. E.g., consider unpacking
+" a package or fetching files from github, a .vimrc in there might be a trojan
+" horse. BETTER NOT SET THIS OPTION!
+" Instead, define an autocommand in your .vimrc to set options for a matching
+" directory.
+"
+" but since it's needed for direnv, we have to enable it.
+set exrc
+set secure
+
 
 function! AskQuit (msg, proposed_action)
     if confirm(a:msg, "&Quit?\n" . a:proposed_action) == 1