diff --git a/README b/README
index 77c0d40..40e7af4 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ NAME
        z - jump around
 
 SYNOPSIS
-       z [-h] [-l] [-r] [-t] [regex1 regex2 ... regexn]
+       z [-c] [-h] [-l] [-r] [-t] [regex1 regex2 ... regexn]
 
 AVAILABILITY
        bash, zsh
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ DESCRIPTION
        directory that matches ALL of the regexes given on the command line.
 
 OPTIONS
+       -c     restrict matches to subdirectories of the current directory.
+
        -h     show a brief help message
 
        -l     list only
diff --git a/z.1 b/z.1
index 9752ab1..bed5d3b 100644
--- a/z.1
+++ b/z.1
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ NAME
 z \- jump around
 .SH
 SYNOPSIS
-z [\-h] [\-l] [\-r] [\-t] [regex1 regex2 ... regexn]
+z [\-c] [\-h] [\-l] [\-r] [\-t] [regex1 regex2 ... regexn]
 .SH
 AVAILABILITY
 bash, zsh
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ directory that matches ALL of the regexes given on the command line.
 .SH
 OPTIONS
 .TP
+\fB\-c\fR
+restrict matches to subdirectories of the current directory.
+.TP
 \fB\-h\fR
 show a brief help message
 .TP
diff --git a/z.sh b/z.sh
index 5f4415d..79605bd 100755
--- a/z.sh
+++ b/z.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@
 #   * z foo bar # cd to most frecent dir matching foo and bar
 #   * z -r foo  # cd to highest ranked dir matching foo
 #   * z -t foo  # cd to most recently accessed dir matching foo
-#   * z -l foo  # list all dirs matching foo (by frecency)
+#   * z -l foo  # list matches instead of cd
+#   * z -c foo  # restrict matches to subdirs of $PWD
 
 case $- in
  *i*) ;;
@@ -100,14 +101,15 @@ _z() {
  else
   # list/go
   while [ "$1" ]; do case "$1" in
-   -h) echo "z [-h][-l][-r][-t] args" >&2; return;;
+   -c) local fnd="$PWD $fnd";;
+   -h) echo "${_Z_CMD:-z} [-c][-h][-l][-r][-t] args" >&2; return;;
    -l) local list=1;;
    -r) local typ="rank";;
    -t) local typ="recent";;
    --) while [ "$1" ]; do shift; local fnd="$fnd $1";done;;
     *) local fnd="$fnd $1";;
   esac; local last=$1; shift; done
-  [ "$fnd" ] || local list=1
+  [ "$fnd" -a "$fnd" != "$PWD " ] || local list=1
 
   # if we hit enter on a completion just go there
   case "$last" in