diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 86fdc50..cf2d897 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ Copy the dotfiles folder to the location where you want to keep it and then run
 Installs oh-my-zsh and sources aliases.sh, functions.sh and colors.sh, as well as installing
 a a few utilities (see `install.sh`).
 
+A self-update mechanism is included. It asks for confirmation to pull the latest changes
+from the git repo every two weeks. This also updates the git-sourced repositories installed
+by the install script. The self-update routine can be called manually by calling
+`dotfiles_selfupdate` (defined in `functions.sh`).
+
 ### Installed  ###
 
 0. oh-my-zsh (zsh config framework, lots of plugins available at https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/wiki/Plugins)
diff --git a/check_for_update.sh b/check_for_update.sh
index 08384ba..60ed0bf 100755
--- a/check_for_update.sh
+++ b/check_for_update.sh
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ function _update_dotfiles_update() {
 }
 
 function _upgrade_dotfiles() {
-  (cd $DOTFILES; git pull --rebase &>/dev/null && echo "Succesfully upgraded dotfiles" || echo "Could not upgrade dotfiles")
+    (cd $DOTFILES; git pull -q --rebase  && echo "Succesfully upgraded dotfiles" || echo "Could not upgrade dotfiles.")
   # amix's vimrc update
   amix_vimrc=$HOME/.vim_runtime
   if [[ -d $amix_vimrc ]]; then
     # the update_plugins.py script makes the vim_runtime dir dirty, so we have to reset --hard
-    (cd $amix_vimrc && git reset --hard HEAD >/dev/null && git pull --rebase >/dev/null && echo "Upgraded amix's vimrc" || echo "Could not upgrade amix's vimrc" >&2)
+    (cd $amix_vimrc && git reset --hard HEAD >/dev/null && git pull -q --rebase && echo "Upgraded amix's vimrc" || echo "Could not upgrade amix's vimrc" >&2)
     (python $amix_vimrc/update_plugins.py >/dev/null || echo "upgraded amix's vimrc's plugins || "echo "Could not upgrade amix's vimrc's plugins" >&2)
   else
     echo "Could not upgrade amix's vimrc and plugins (missing .vim_runtime folder)" >&2
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ function _upgrade_dotfiles() {
   # custom zsh plugins
   custom_plugins=("alias-tips" "fast-syntax-highlighting" "zsh-autosuggestions")
   for plugin in $custom_plugins; do
-      (cd $ZSH/custom/plugins/$plugin && git pull --rebase >/dev/null && echo "Upgraded oh-my-zsh plugin: $plugin" || echo "Could not upgrade oh-my-zsh plugin: $plugin" >&2)
+      (cd $ZSH/custom/plugins/$plugin && git pull -q --rebase && echo "Upgraded oh-my-zsh plugin: $plugin" || echo "Could not upgrade oh-my-zsh plugin: $plugin" >&2)
   done
 
   # update the zsh file
diff --git a/functions.sh b/functions.sh
index e049f69..9833f0a 100755
--- a/functions.sh
+++ b/functions.sh
@@ -4,18 +4,7 @@
 ## Selfupdate
 function dotfiles_selfupdate
 {
-    # Pull dotfiles
-    (cd $DOTFILES; git pull --rebase)
-    WD=$PWD
-    # Update all git repos in $ZSH/custom/plugins
-    cd "$ZSH/custom/plugins"
-    for folder in *; do
-        if [[ -f "$folder/.git" ]]; then
-            (cd $folder; git pull)
-        fi
-    done
-    # go back to previous working directory
-    cd "$WD"
+    (. $DOTFILES/check_for_update.sh && _upgrade_dotfiles)
 }
 
 ## get cheat sheets for commands from cheat.sh. Usage: cheat commandname