diff --git a/Library/Contributions/cmds/git b/Library/Contributions/cmds/git
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..7539ecfc01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Contributions/cmds/git
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/ruby -W0
+# This script because we support $GIT, $HOMEBREW_SVN, etc. and Xcode-only
+# configurations. Order is careful to be what the user would want.
+
+F = File.basename(__FILE__).freeze
+D = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__)).freeze
+
+def exec *args
+  # prevent fork-bombs
+  arg0 = if args.size == 1
+    args.first.split(' ')
+  else
+    args
+  end.first
+  return if arg0 =~ /^#{F}/i
+  return if File.expand_path(arg0) == File.expand_path(__FILE__)
+
+  if args[1] == '-print-path' and File.executable? args[0]
+    puts args[0]
+    exit 0
+  else
+    Kernel.exec *args
+  end
+end
+
+case F.downcase
+  when 'git' then %W{HOMEBREW_GIT GIT}
+  when 'svn' then "HOMEBREW_SVN"
+  else []
+end.each do |key|
+  exec ENV[key], *ARGV if ENV[key] and File.executable? ENV[key]
+end
+
+brew_version = File.expand_path("#{D}/../../../bin/#{F}")
+exec brew_version, *ARGV if File.executable? brew_version
+
+`/usr/bin/which -a #{F} 2>/dev/null`.split("\n").each do |path|
+  exec path, *ARGV
+end
+
+# xcrun hangs if xcode-select is set to "/"
+path = `/usr/bin/xcode-select -print-path 2>/dev/null`.chomp
+if path != "/"
+  path = `/usr/bin/xcrun -find #{F} 2>/dev/null`.chomp
+  exec path, *ARGV if File.executable? path
+end
+
+path = "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/#{F}"
+exec path, *ARGV if File.executable? path
+
+abort "You must: brew install #{F}"
diff --git a/Library/Contributions/cmds/svn b/Library/Contributions/cmds/svn
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..0899c2993d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Contributions/cmds/svn
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+git
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/--env.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/--env.rb
index df458fc87a..f45386d0cc 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/--env.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/--env.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module Homebrew extend self
       CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_PATH MAKEFLAGS
       MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET PKG_CONFIG_PATH HOMEBREW_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE
       HOMEBREW_DEBUG HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS HOMEBREW_VERBOSE HOMEBREW_USE_CLANG
-      HOMEBREW_USE_GCC HOMEBREW_USE_LLVM HOMEBREW_SVN
+      HOMEBREW_USE_GCC HOMEBREW_USE_LLVM HOMEBREW_SVN HOMEBREW_GIT
       MAKE GIT CPP
       ACLOCAL_PATH OBJC PATH ].select{ |key| env[key] }
   end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
index bd7512a36c..68a91d0a48 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ end
 class SubversionDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy
   def initialize name, package
     super
-    @@svn ||= find_svn
+    @@svn ||= 'svn'
     @unique_token="#{name}--svn" unless name.to_s.empty? or name == '__UNKNOWN__'
     @unique_token += "-HEAD" if ARGV.include? '--HEAD'
     @co=HOMEBREW_CACHE+@unique_token
@@ -269,20 +269,12 @@ class SubversionDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy
     args << '--ignore-externals' if ignore_externals
     quiet_safe_system(*args)
   end
-
-  # Try HOMEBREW_SVN, a Homebrew-built svn, and finally the OS X system svn.
-  # Not all features are available in the 10.5 system-provided svn.
-  def find_svn
-    return ENV['HOMEBREW_SVN'] if ENV['HOMEBREW_SVN']
-    return "#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/bin/svn" if File.exist? "#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/bin/svn"
-    return MacOS.locate 'svn'
-  end
 end
 
 # Require a newer version of Subversion than 1.4.x (Leopard-provided version)
 class StrictSubversionDownloadStrategy < SubversionDownloadStrategy
   def find_svn
-    exe = super
+    exe = `svn -print-path`
     `#{exe} --version` =~ /version (\d+\.\d+(\.\d+)*)/
     svn_version = $1
     version_tuple=svn_version.split(".").collect {|v|Integer(v)}
@@ -316,7 +308,7 @@ end
 class GitDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy
   def initialize name, package
     super
-    @@git ||= find_git
+    @@git ||= 'git'
     @unique_token="#{name}--git" unless name.to_s.empty? or name == '__UNKNOWN__'
     @clone=HOMEBREW_CACHE+@unique_token
   end
@@ -334,7 +326,7 @@ class GitDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy
   end
 
   def fetch
-    raise "You must install Git: brew install git" unless which "git"
+    raise "You must: brew install git" unless which "git"
 
     ohai "Cloning #{@url}"
 
@@ -405,13 +397,6 @@ class GitDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy
       end
     end
   end
-
-  # Try GIT, a Homebrew-built Git, and finally the OS X system Git.
-  def find_git
-    return ENV['GIT'] if ENV['GIT']
-    return "#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/bin/git" if File.exist? "#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/bin/git"
-    return MacOS.locate 'git'
-  end
 end
 
 class CVSDownloadStrategy < AbstractDownloadStrategy