diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5819f88..44de7f1 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc 0.2.65 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "mio 0.6.19 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "mio-extras 2.0.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "walkdir 2.2.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "walkdir 2.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "walkdir"
-version = "2.2.9"
+version = "2.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
  "same-file 1.0.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -446,6 +446,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "log 0.4.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "nix 0.15.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "notify 4.0.14 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "walkdir 2.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
@@ -547,7 +548,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum unicode-width 0.1.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7007dbd421b92cc6e28410fe7362e2e0a2503394908f417b68ec8d1c364c4e20"
 "checksum unicode-xid 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "826e7639553986605ec5979c7dd957c7895e93eabed50ab2ffa7f6128a75097c"
 "checksum void 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "6a02e4885ed3bc0f2de90ea6dd45ebcbb66dacffe03547fadbb0eeae2770887d"
-"checksum walkdir 2.2.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "9658c94fa8b940eab2250bd5a457f9c48b748420d71293b165c8cdbe2f55f71e"
+"checksum walkdir 2.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "777182bc735b6424e1a57516d35ed72cb8019d85c8c9bf536dccb3445c1a2f7d"
 "checksum winapi 0.2.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "167dc9d6949a9b857f3451275e911c3f44255842c1f7a76f33c55103a909087a"
 "checksum winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8093091eeb260906a183e6ae1abdba2ef5ef2257a21801128899c3fc699229c6"
 "checksum winapi-build 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "2d315eee3b34aca4797b2da6b13ed88266e6d612562a0c46390af8299fc699bc"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 09009f8..53eb2a9 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ lazy_static = "1.1.0"
 log = "0.4.4"
 notify = "4.0.13"
 derive_builder = "0.9.0"
+walkdir = "2.3.1"
 
 [dependencies.clap]
 version = "2.32.0"
diff --git a/src/gitignore.rs b/src/gitignore.rs
index 11c636d..6bc733c 100644
--- a/src/gitignore.rs
+++ b/src/gitignore.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 extern crate globset;
+extern crate walkdir;
 
 use globset::{GlobBuilder, GlobSet, GlobSetBuilder};
-use std::collections::HashSet;
+
 use std::fs;
 use std::io;
 use std::io::Read;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use walkdir::WalkDir;
 
 pub struct Gitignore {
     files: Vec<GitignoreFile>,
@@ -43,39 +45,43 @@ enum MatchResult {
 
 pub fn load(paths: &[PathBuf]) -> Gitignore {
     let mut files = vec![];
-    let mut checked_dirs = HashSet::new();
 
     for path in paths {
         let mut p = path.to_owned();
 
-        loop {
-            if !checked_dirs.contains(&p) {
-                checked_dirs.insert(p.clone());
-
-                let gitignore_path = p.join(".gitignore");
-                if gitignore_path.exists() {
-                    if let Ok(f) = GitignoreFile::new(&gitignore_path) {
-                        debug!("Loaded {:?}", gitignore_path);
-                        files.push(f);
-                    } else {
-                        debug!("Unable to load {:?}", gitignore_path);
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-
+        // scan parent directories up to a root .git folder
+        let top_level_git_dir = loop {
             // Stop if we see a .git directory
             if let Ok(metadata) = p.join(".git").metadata() {
                 if metadata.is_dir() {
-                    break;
+                    break Some(path);
                 }
             }
 
             if p.parent().is_none() {
-                break;
+                break None;
             }
+        };
 
-            p.pop();
+        if let Some(root) = top_level_git_dir {
+            // scan in subdirectories
+            for entry in WalkDir::new(root)
+                .into_iter()
+                .filter_map(Result::ok)
+                .filter(|e| e.file_type().is_file())
+                .filter(|e| e.file_name() == ".gitignore")
+            {
+                let gitignore_path = entry.path();
+                if let Ok(f) = GitignoreFile::new(&gitignore_path) {
+                    debug!("Loaded {:?}", gitignore_path);
+                    files.push(f);
+                } else {
+                    debug!("Unable to load {:?}", gitignore_path);
+                }
+            }
         }
+
+        p.pop();
     }
 
     Gitignore::new(files)