diff --git a/powerline/bindings/vim/__init__.py b/powerline/bindings/vim/__init__.py
index 4d59c985..6c2e4527 100644
--- a/powerline/bindings/vim/__init__.py
+++ b/powerline/bindings/vim/__init__.py
@@ -124,6 +124,14 @@ else:
 	vim_get_func = VimFunc
 
 
+def vim_get_autoload_func(f, rettype=None):
+	func = vim_get_func(f)
+	if not func:
+		vim.command('runtime! ' + f.replace('#', '/')[:f.rindex('#')] + '.vim')
+		func = vim_get_func(f)
+	return func
+
+
 if hasattr(vim, 'Function'):
 	def vim_func_exists(f):
 		try:
@@ -145,6 +153,7 @@ if type(vim) is object:
 
 
 _getbufvar = vim_get_func('getbufvar')
+_vim_exists = vim_get_func('exists', rettype='int')
 
 
 # It may crash on some old vim versions and I do not remember in which patch 
@@ -171,14 +180,20 @@ if hasattr(vim, 'vvars') and vim.vvars['version'] > 703:
 
 	def vim_getwinvar(segment_info, varname):
 		return _vim_to_python(segment_info['window'].vars[str(varname)])
+
+	def vim_global_exists(name):
+		try:
+			vim.vars[name]
+		except KeyError:
+			return False
+		else:
+			return True
 else:
 	_vim_to_python_types = {
 		dict: (lambda value: dict(((k, _vim_to_python(v)) for k, v in value.items()))),
 		list: (lambda value: [_vim_to_python(i) for i in value]),
 	}
 
-	_vim_exists = vim_get_func('exists', rettype='int')
-
 	def vim_getvar(varname):
 		varname = 'g:' + varname
 		if _vim_exists(varname):
@@ -201,6 +216,13 @@ else:
 				raise KeyError(varname)
 		return result
 
+	def vim_global_exists(name):
+		return int(vim.eval('exists("g:' + name + '")'))
+
+
+def vim_command_exists(name):
+	return _vim_exists(':' + name)
+
 
 if sys.version_info < (3,):
 	getbufvar = _getbufvar
diff --git a/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/syntastic.py b/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/syntastic.py
index 61324d45..c03edbdc 100644
--- a/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/syntastic.py
+++ b/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/syntastic.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ except ImportError:
 	vim = object()
 
 from powerline.segments.vim import window_cached
+from powerline.bindings.vim import vim_global_exists
 
 
 @window_cached
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ def syntastic(pl, err_format='ERR:  {first_line} ({num}) ', warn_format='WARN
 
 	Highlight groups used: ``syntastic.warning`` or ``warning``, ``syntastic.error`` or ``error``.
 	'''
-	if not int(vim.eval('exists("g:SyntasticLoclist")')):
-		return
+	if not vim_global_exists('SyntasticLoclist'):
+		return None
 	has_errors = int(vim.eval('g:SyntasticLoclist.current().hasErrorsOrWarningsToDisplay()'))
 	if not has_errors:
 		return
diff --git a/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/tagbar.py b/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/tagbar.py
index 5daf5055..c7c74535 100644
--- a/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/tagbar.py
+++ b/powerline/segments/vim/plugin/tagbar.py
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 # vim:fileencoding=utf-8:noet
 from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import, print_function)
 
-try:
-	import vim
-except ImportError:
-	vim = object()
-
 from powerline.segments.vim import window_cached
+from powerline.bindings.vim import vim_command_exists, vim_get_autoload_func
+
+
+currenttag = None
 
 
 @window_cached
@@ -25,6 +24,12 @@ def current_tag(pl, flags='s'):
 
 		.. _`official documentation`: https://github.com/majutsushi/tagbar/blob/master/doc/tagbar.txt
 	'''
-	if not int(vim.eval('exists(":Tagbar")')):
-		return None
-	return vim.eval('tagbar#currenttag("%s", "", "{0}")'.format(flags))
+	global currenttag
+	if not currenttag:
+		if vim_command_exists('Tagbar'):
+			currenttag = vim_get_autoload_func('tagbar#currenttag')
+			if not currenttag:
+				return None
+		else:
+			return None
+	return currenttag('%s', '', flags)
diff --git a/tests/vim.py b/tests/vim.py
index 75404f6a..f3d84355 100644
--- a/tests/vim.py
+++ b/tests/vim.py
@@ -412,9 +412,11 @@ def _emul_bufnr(expr):
 
 
 @_vim
-def _emul_exists(varname):
-	if varname.startswith('g:'):
-		return varname[2:] in vars
+def _emul_exists(ident):
+	if ident.startswith('g:'):
+		return ident[2:] in vars
+	elif ident.startswith(':'):
+		return 0
 	raise NotImplementedError