diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f7a80a09..04632323 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -304,9 +304,12 @@ the path shown would be `my-cool-project`.  If you navigate to `$HOME/projects/m
 
 If you want to customize the directory separator, you could set:
 ```zsh
-# You'll need patched awesome-terminal fonts for that example
-POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_PATH_SEPARATOR="%f "$'\uE0B1'" %F"
+# Double quotes are important here!
+POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_PATH_SEPARATOR="%F{red} $(print_icon 'LEFT_SUBSEGMENT_SEPARATOR') %F{black}"
 ```
+To omit the first character (usually a slash that gets replaced if you set `POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_PATH_SEPARATOR`),
+you could set `POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_OMIT_FIRST_CHARACTER=true`.
+
 
 ##### disk_usage
 
diff --git a/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme b/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
index f104b789..3010790e 100755
--- a/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
+++ b/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
@@ -616,6 +616,10 @@ prompt_dir() {
     esac
   fi
 
+  if [[ "${POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_OMIT_FIRST_CHARACTER}" == "true" ]]; then
+    current_path="${current_path[2,-1]}"
+  fi
+
   if [[ "${POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_PATH_SEPARATOR}" != "/" ]]; then
     current_path=$(print -P "${current_path}" | sed "s/\//${POWERLEVEL9K_DIR_PATH_SEPARATOR}/g")
   fi