diff --git a/share/functions/fish_vcs_prompt.fish b/share/functions/fish_vcs_prompt.fish
index 5c1ca3d43..d0deef7c2 100644
--- a/share/functions/fish_vcs_prompt.fish
+++ b/share/functions/fish_vcs_prompt.fish
@@ -3,5 +3,8 @@ function fish_vcs_prompt --description "Print the prompts for all available vcse
     # This is so we don't try svn if git already worked.
     fish_git_prompt
     or fish_hg_prompt
-    or fish_svn_prompt
+    # The svn prompt is disabled by default because it's quite slow on common svn repositories.
+    # To enable it uncomment it.
+    # You can also only use it in specific directories by checking $PWD.
+    # or fish_svn_prompt
 end
diff --git a/sphinx_doc_src/cmds/fish_vcs_prompt.rst b/sphinx_doc_src/cmds/fish_vcs_prompt.rst
index e9facb769..5f5f10f87 100644
--- a/sphinx_doc_src/cmds/fish_vcs_prompt.rst
+++ b/sphinx_doc_src/cmds/fish_vcs_prompt.rst
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ It calls out to VCS-specific functions. The currently supported systems are:
 
 If a VCS isn't installed, the respective function does nothing.
 
+The svn prompt is disabled by default because it's slow on large svn repositories. To enable it, modify fish_vcs_prompt to uncomment it. See :ref:`funced <cmd-funced>`.
+
 For more information, see the documentation for each of the functions above.
 
 Example