diff --git a/plugins/available/virtualenv.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/virtualenv.plugin.bash
index a0e7b3f4..bb54e701 100644
--- a/plugins/available/virtualenv.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/virtualenv.plugin.bash
@@ -3,3 +3,8 @@
 # make sure virtualenvwrapper is enabled if availalbe
 [[ `which virtualenvwrapper.sh` ]] && . virtualenvwrapper.sh
 
+# create a new virtualenv for this directory
+function mkvenv {
+  cwd=`basename \`pwd\``
+  mkvirtualenv --no-site-packages --distribute $cwd
+}