diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index adbc579..e0fb93e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ Returns 0 if an init script exists.
 You can set the environment variable ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE. These files will be checked and if a change is detected zgen reset is called.
     ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE=(${HOME}/.zshrc ${HOME}/.zshrc.local)
 
+### Notes
+Be aware that `zgen` tries to handle [`compinit`][compinit] for you to allow for the fastest possible initialization times. However, this functionality will be disabled if you've already called `compinit` yourself before sourcing `zgen.zsh`. (Alternatively, you can disable it yourself by disabling `$ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT`.)
+
+    [compinit]: <http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Completion-System.html#Use-of-compinit> "Zsh manual 20.2.1: Use of compinit"
+
 ### Example .zshrc
 
 ```zsh
diff --git a/zgen.zsh b/zgen.zsh
index 7338cb0..4ac62eb 100644
--- a/zgen.zsh
+++ b/zgen.zsh
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/zsh
-autoload -U regexp-replace
-
+# vim: set ft=zsh fenc=utf-8 noai ts=8 et sts=4 sw=0 tw=80 nowrap :
 local ZGEN_SOURCE="$(cd "$(dirname "${0}")" && pwd -P)"
 
+-zgputs() { printf %s\\n "$@" ;}
+-zgpute() { printf %s\\n "-- zgen: $*" >&2 ;}
+
+-zginit() { -zgputs "$*" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}" ;}
+
 
 if [[ -z "${ZGEN_DIR}" ]]; then
     ZGEN_DIR="${HOME}/.zgen"
@@ -12,6 +16,18 @@ if [[ -z "${ZGEN_INIT}" ]]; then
     ZGEN_INIT="${ZGEN_DIR}/init.zsh"
 fi
 
+# The user can explicitly disable Zgen attempting to invoke `compinit`, or it
+# will be automatically disabled if `compinit` appears to have already been
+# invoked.
+if [[ -z "${ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT}" && -z "${(t)_comps}" ]]; then
+    ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT=1
+fi
+
+if [[ -n "${ZGEN_CUSTOM_COMPDUMP}" ]]; then
+    ZGEN_COMPINIT_DIR_FLAG="-d ${(q-)ZGEN_CUSTOM_COMPDUMP}"
+    ZGEN_COMPINIT_FLAGS="${ZGEN_COMPINIT_DIR_FLAG} ${ZGEN_COMPINIT_FLAGS}"
+fi
+
 if [[ -z "${ZGEN_LOADED}" ]]; then
     ZGEN_LOADED=()
 fi
@@ -60,15 +76,15 @@ if [[ -z "${ZGEN_PREZTO_BRANCH}" ]]; then
     ZGEN_PREZTO_BRANCH=master
 fi
 
+autoload -U regexp-replace
 -zgen-encode-url () {
     # Remove characters from a url that don't work well in a filename.
     # Inspired by -anti-get-clone-dir() method from antigen.
-    autoload -U regexp-replace
     local url="${1}"
     regexp-replace url '/' '-SLASH-'
     regexp-replace url ':' '-COLON-'
     regexp-replace url '\|' '-PIPE-'
-    echo $url
+    -zgputs "$url"
 }
 
 -zgen-get-clone-dir() {
@@ -76,7 +92,7 @@ fi
     local branch="${2:-master}"
 
     if [[ -e "${repo}/.git" ]]; then
-        echo "${ZGEN_DIR}/local/$(basename ${repo})-${branch}"
+        -zgputs "${ZGEN_DIR}/local/$(basename ${repo})-${branch}"
     else
         # Repo directory will be location/reponame
         local reponame="$(basename ${repo})"
@@ -84,7 +100,7 @@ fi
         # work well in a filename.
         local location="$(-zgen-encode-url $(dirname ${repo}))"
         repo="${location}/${reponame}"
-        echo "${ZGEN_DIR}/${repo}-${branch}"
+        -zgputs "${ZGEN_DIR}/${repo}-${branch}"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -92,7 +108,7 @@ fi
     local repo="${1}"
 
     if [[ -e "${repo}/.git" ]]; then
-        echo "${repo}"
+        -zgputs "${repo}"
     else
         # Sourced from antigen url resolution logic.
         # https://github.com/zsh-users/antigen/blob/master/antigen.zsh
@@ -105,7 +121,7 @@ fi
               ]]; then
             repo="https://github.com/${repo%.git}.git"
         fi
-        echo "${repo}"
+        -zgputs "${repo}"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -133,16 +149,14 @@ zgen-clone() {
 -zgen-source() {
     local file="${1}"
 
-    source "${file}"
-
-    # Add to ZGEN_LOADED array if not present
     if [[ ! "${ZGEN_LOADED[@]}" =~ "${file}" ]]; then
         ZGEN_LOADED+=("${file}")
-    fi
+        source "${file}"
 
-    completion_path="$(dirname ${file})"
+        completion_path="$(dirname ${file})"
 
-    -zgen-add-to-fpath "${completion_path}"
+        -zgen-add-to-fpath "${completion_path}"
+    fi
 }
 
 -zgen-prezto-option(){
@@ -190,7 +204,7 @@ zgen-init() {
 }
 
 zgen-reset() {
-    echo "zgen: Deleting ${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    -zgpute 'Deleting `'"${ZGEN_INIT}"'` ...'
     if [[ -f "${ZGEN_INIT}" ]]; then
         rm "${ZGEN_INIT}"
     fi
@@ -198,7 +212,7 @@ zgen-reset() {
 
 zgen-update() {
     for repo in "${ZGEN_DIR}"/*/*; do
-        echo "Updating ${repo}"
+        -zgpute "Updating '${repo}' ..."
         (cd "${repo}" \
             && git pull \
             && git submodule update --recursive)
@@ -207,107 +221,127 @@ zgen-update() {
 }
 
 zgen-save() {
-    echo "zgen: Creating ${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    -zgpute 'Creating `'"${ZGEN_INIT}"'` ...'
 
-    echo "#" >! "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "# Generated by zgen." >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "# This file will be overwritten the next time you run zgen save" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "ZSH=$(-zgen-get-zsh)" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    -zgputs "# {{{" >! "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    -zginit "# Generated by zgen."
+    -zginit "# This file will be overwritten the next time you run zgen save!"
+    -zginit ""
+    -zginit "ZSH=$(-zgen-get-zsh)"
     if [[ ${ZGEN_USE_PREZTO} == 1 ]]; then
-        echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-        echo "# init prezto" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+        -zginit ""
+        -zginit "# ### Prezto initialization"
         for option in "${ZGEN_PREZTO_OPTIONS[@]}"; do
-            echo "${option}" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+            -zginit "${option}"
         done
     fi
 
-    echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "#" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    -zginit ""
+    -zginit "# ### General modules"
     for file in "${ZGEN_LOADED[@]}"; do
-        echo "source \"${(q)file}\"" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+        -zginit 'source "'"${(q)file}"\"
     done
 
-    # Set up fpath
-    echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "#" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "# Add our plugins and completions to fpath">> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "#" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-    echo "fpath=(${(q)ZGEN_COMPLETIONS[@]} \${fpath})" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-
-    # check for file changes
-    if [[ ! -z ${ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE} ]]; then
-       echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-       echo "# check for file changes" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-       for file in ${ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE}; do
-          CHANGESHA=`shasum -a 256 ${file}`
-          echo "if [[ \"\`shasum -a 256 ${file}\`\" != \"$CHANGESHA\" ]]; then" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-          echo "   echo Changed file ${file}, resetting zgen" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-          echo "   zgen reset" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-          echo -n "el" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-       done
-       echo "se " >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-       echo "   ;" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-       echo "fi" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+    # Set up fpath, load completions
+    # NOTE: This *intentionally* doesn't use ${ZGEN_COMPINIT_FLAGS}; the only
+    #       available flags are meaningless in the presence of `-C`.
+    -zginit ""
+    -zginit "# ### Plugins & Completions"
+    -zginit 'fpath=('"${(@q)ZGEN_COMPLETIONS}"' ${fpath})'
+    if [[ ${ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT} == 1 ]]; then
+        -zginit ""
+        -zginit 'autoload -Uz compinit && \'
+        -zginit '   compinit -C '"${ZGEN_COMPINIT_DIR_FLAG}"
+    fi
+
+    # Check for file changes
+    if [[ ! -z "${ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE}" ]]; then
+        -zginit ""
+        -zginit "# ### Recompilation triggers"
+
+        local ages="$(stat -Lc "%Y" 2>/dev/null $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE || \
+                      stat -Lf "%m" 2>/dev/null $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE)"
+        local shas="$(shasum -a 256 ${ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE})"
+
+        -zginit "read -rd '' ages <<AGES; read -rd '' shas <<SHAS"
+        -zginit "$ages"
+        -zginit "AGES"
+        -zginit "$shas"
+        -zginit "SHAS"
+
+        -zginit 'if [[ -n "$ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE" \'
+        -zginit '   && "$(stat -Lc "%Y" 2>/dev/null $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE || \'
+        -zginit '         stat -Lf "%m"             $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE)" != "$ages" \'
+        -zginit '   && "$(shasum -a 256             $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE)" != "$shas" ]]; then'
+        -zginit '   printf %s\\n '\''-- zgen: Files in $ZGEN_RESET_ON_CHANGE changed; resetting `init.zsh`...'\'
+        -zginit '   zgen reset'
+        -zginit 'fi'
     fi
 
     # load prezto modules
     if [[ ${ZGEN_USE_PREZTO} == 1 ]]; then
-        echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-        echo "# init prezto" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
-        echo -n "pmodload " >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+        -zginit ""
+        -zginit "# ### Prezto modules"
+        printf %s\\n "pmodload" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
         for module in "${ZGEN_PREZTO_LOAD[@]}"; do
-            echo -n "${module} " >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
+            printf %s\\n " ${module}" >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
         done
-        echo >> "${ZGEN_INIT}"
     fi
 
-    zgen-apply --verbose
+    -zginit ""
+    -zginit "# }}}"
+
+    zgen-apply
 }
 
 zgen-apply() {
-  fpath=(${(q)ZGEN_COMPLETIONS[@]} ${fpath})
-  [[ "$1" == --verbose ]] && echo "zgen: Creating ${ZGEN_DIR}/zcompdump"
-  compinit -d "${ZGEN_DIR}/zcompdump"
+    fpath=(${(q-)ZGEN_COMPLETIONS[@]} ${fpath})
+
+    if [[ ${ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT} == 1 ]]; then
+        -zgpute "Initializing completions ..."
+
+        autoload -Uz compinit && \
+            compinit $ZGEN_COMPINIT_FLAGS
+    fi
 }
 
 zgen-completions() {
-    echo "zgen: 'completions' is deprecated, please use 'load' instead"
+    -zgpute '`zgen completions` is deprecated, please use `zgen load` instead'
 
     zgen-load "${@}"
 }
 
 -zgen-path-contains() {
-  setopt localoptions nonomatch nocshnullglob nonullglob;
-  [ -e "$1"/*"$2"(.,@[1]) ]
+    setopt localoptions nonomatch nocshnullglob nonullglob;
+    [ -e "$1"/*"$2"(.,@[1]) ]
 }
 
 -zgen-get-zsh(){
     if [[ ${ZGEN_USE_PREZTO} == 1 ]]; then
-        echo "$(-zgen-get-clone-dir "$ZGEN_PREZTO_REPO" "$ZGEN_PREZTO_BRANCH")"
+        -zgputs "$(-zgen-get-clone-dir "$ZGEN_PREZTO_REPO" "$ZGEN_PREZTO_BRANCH")"
     else
-        echo "$(-zgen-get-clone-dir "$ZGEN_OH_MY_ZSH_REPO" "$ZGEN_OH_MY_ZSH_BRANCH")"
+        -zgputs "$(-zgen-get-clone-dir "$ZGEN_OH_MY_ZSH_REPO" "$ZGEN_OH_MY_ZSH_BRANCH")"
     fi
 }
 
 zgen-load() {
     if [[ "$#" == 0 ]]; then
-        echo "zgen: 'load' requires at least one parameter"
-        echo "usage: zgen load <repo> [location] [branch]"
+        -zgpute '`load` requires at least one parameter:'
+        -zgpute '`zgen load <repo> [location] [branch]`'
     elif [[ "$#" == 1 && ("${1[1]}" == '/' || "${1[1]}" == '.' ) ]]; then
-      local location="${1}"
+        local location="${1}"
     else
-      local repo="${1}"
-      local file="${2}"
-      local branch="${3:-master}"
-      local dir="$(-zgen-get-clone-dir ${repo} ${branch})"
-      local location="${dir}/${file}"
-      location=${location%/}
-
-      # clone repo if not present
-      if [[ ! -d "${dir}" ]]; then
-          zgen-clone "${repo}" "${branch}"
-      fi
+        local repo="${1}"
+        local file="${2}"
+        local branch="${3:-master}"
+        local dir="$(-zgen-get-clone-dir ${repo} ${branch})"
+        local location="${dir}/${file}"
+        location=${location%/}
+
+        # clone repo if not present
+        if [[ ! -d "${dir}" ]]; then
+            zgen-clone "${repo}" "${branch}"
+        fi
     fi
 
     # source the file
@@ -346,9 +380,9 @@ zgen-load() {
 
     else
       if [[ -d ${dir:-$location} ]]; then
-        echo "zgen: Failed to load ${dir:-$location} -- ${file}"
+        -zgpute "Failed to load ${dir:-$location} -- ${file}"
       else
-        echo "zgen: Failed to load ${dir:-$location}"
+        -zgpute "Failed to load ${dir:-$location}"
       fi
     fi
 }
@@ -377,16 +411,18 @@ zgen-list() {
     if [[ -f "${ZGEN_INIT}" ]]; then
         cat "${ZGEN_INIT}"
     else
-        echo "Zgen init.zsh missing, please use zgen save and then restart your shell."
+        -zgpute '`init.zsh` missing, please use `zgen save` and then restart your shell.'
+        return 1
     fi
 }
 
 zgen-selfupdate() {
     if [[ -e "${ZGEN_SOURCE}/.git" ]]; then
         (cd "${ZGEN_SOURCE}" \
-            && git pull)
+            && git pull) \
+            && zgen reset
     else
-        echo "zgen is not running from a git repository, so it is not possible to selfupdate"
+        -zgpute "Not running from a git repository; cannot automatically update."
         return 1
     fi
 }
@@ -418,7 +454,7 @@ zgen-prezto() {
     elif [[ $# == 1 ]]; then
         local module=${file}
         if [[ -z ${file} ]]; then
-            echo "Please specify which module to load using 'zgen prezto <name of module>'"
+            -zgpute 'Please specify which module to load using `zgen prezto <name of module>`'
             return 1
         fi
         -zgen-prezto-load "'$module'"
@@ -432,30 +468,32 @@ zgen-prezto() {
 }
 
 zgen-pmodule() {
-   local repo="${1}"
-   local branch="${2:-master}"
+    local repo="${1}"
+    local branch="${2:-master}"
 
-   local dir="$(-zgen-get-clone-dir ${repo} ${branch})"
+    local dir="$(-zgen-get-clone-dir ${repo} ${branch})"
 
-   # clone repo if not present
-   if [[ ! -d "${dir}" ]]; then
-      zgen-clone "${repo}" "${branch}"
-   fi
+    # clone repo if not present
+    if [[ ! -d "${dir}" ]]; then
+        zgen-clone "${repo}" "${branch}"
+    fi
 
-   local module=$(basename ${repo})
+    local module=$(basename ${repo})
 
-   local preztodir="${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprezto/modules/${module}"
-   if [[ ! -h ${preztodir} ]]; then
-      ln -s $dir ${preztodir}
-   fi
+    local preztodir="${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprezto/modules/${module}"
+    if [[ ! -h ${preztodir} ]]; then
+        ln -s $dir ${preztodir}
+    fi
 
-   -zgen-prezto-load "'${module}'"
+    -zgen-prezto-load "'${module}'"
 }
 
 zgen() {
     local cmd="${1}"
     if [[ -z "${cmd}" ]]; then
-        echo "usage: zgen [clone|completions|list|load|oh-my-zsh|pmodule|prezto|reset|save|selfupdate|update]"
+        -zgputs 'usage: `zgen [command | instruction] [options]`'
+        -zgputs "    commands: list, saved, reset, clone, update, selfupdate"
+        -zgputs "    instructions: load, oh-my-zsh, pmodule, prezto, save, apply"
         return 1
     fi
 
@@ -464,16 +502,11 @@ zgen() {
     if functions "zgen-${cmd}" > /dev/null ; then
         "zgen-${cmd}" "${@}"
     else
-        echo "zgen: command not found: ${cmd}"
+        -zgpute 'Command not found: `'"${cmd}"\`
+        return 1
     fi
 }
 
 ZSH=$(-zgen-get-zsh)
 zgen-init
 fpath=($ZGEN_SOURCE $fpath)
-
-ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT=${ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT:-true}
-if $ZGEN_AUTOLOAD_COMPINIT; then
-    autoload -U compinit
-    compinit -d "${ZGEN_DIR}/zcompdump"
-fi