diff --git a/runtime/ftplugin/perl.vim b/runtime/ftplugin/perl.vim
index 4361097..f3de81d 100644
--- a/runtime/ftplugin/perl.vim
+++ b/runtime/ftplugin/perl.vim
@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@
 
 " Set this once, globally.
 if !exists("perlpath")
-    " safety check: don't execute perl from current directory
     let s:tmp_cwd = getcwd()
-    if executable("perl") && (fnamemodify(exepath("perl"), ":p:h") != s:tmp_cwd
-          \ || (index(split($PATH,has("win32")? ';' : ':'), s:tmp_cwd) != -1 && s:tmp_cwd != '.'))
+    " safety check: don't execute perl binary by default
+    if executable("perl") && get(g:, 'perl_exec', get(g:, 'plugin_exec', 0))
+        \ && (fnamemodify(exepath("perl"), ":p:h") != s:tmp_cwd
+        \ || (index(split($PATH, has("win32") ? ';' : ':'), s:tmp_cwd) != -1
+        \ && s:tmp_cwd != '.'))
       try
 	if &shellxquote != '"'
 	    let perlpath = system('perl -e "print join(q/,/,@INC)"')
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@
 	" current directory and the directory of the current file.
 	let perlpath = ".,,"
     endif
-    unlet s:tmp_cwd
+    unlet! s:tmp_cwd
 endif
 
 " Append perlpath to the existing path value, if it is set.  Since we don't