diff --git a/utils/pull-all-repos-in-directory.sh b/utils/pull-all-repos-in-directory.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index ac2205c2..c1295e68
--- a/utils/pull-all-repos-in-directory.sh
+++ b/utils/pull-all-repos-in-directory.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,41 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-################
+GIT_CLEANUP=0
+REPOSITORIES="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+DIR=$REPOSITORIES
+QUIET_FLAG=""
+QUIET_REDIRECT=""
+UNCLEAN=()
+
+usage()
+{
+  echo "Usage: pull-all-repos-in-directory [ -d parent_dir ] [ -c ] [ -q ]"
+  echo "    -d: top level directory if not location of script"
+  echo "       parent_dir default: $REPOSITORIES"
+  echo "    -c: git garbage collect, merged branch cleanup, etc"
+  echo "    -q: make git be quiet"
+  exit 2
+}
+
+while getopts ":cqd:" opt; do
+  case ${opt} in
+    c )
+      GIT_CLEANUP=1
+      ;;
+    q )
+      QUIET=1
+      QUIET_FLAG="--quiet"
+      # never redirect stderr
+      QUIET_REDIRECT="> /dev/null"
+      ;;
+    d )
+      DIR=$OPTARG
+      ;;
+    \? )
+      usage
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
 
 sync_directory() {
   IFS=$'\n'
@@ -9,19 +44,57 @@ sync_directory() {
   do
     if [ -d "$1/$REPO" ]
     then
-      echo "Updating $1/$REPO at `date`"
-      if [ -d "$1/$REPO/.git" ]
+      if [ -e "$1/$REPO/.git" ]
       then
-        git -C "$1/$REPO" pull
+        if [[ -z ${QUIET+x} ]]
+        then
+          echo "Updating $1/$REPO at `date`"
+        else
+          echo "$1/$REPO"
+        fi
+        cmd_flags=(-C "${1}/${REPO}")
+        if ! git "${cmd_flags[@]}"  pull ${QUIET_FLAG}
+        then
+            UNCLEAN+=($REPO)
+        fi
+        if [ $GIT_CLEANUP = 1 ]
+        then
+          git ${cmd_flags[@]} gc ${QUIET_FLAG}
+          git ${cmd_flags[@]} remote prune origin
+          master_branch=$( git "${cmd_flags[@]}"  symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD|cut -f2 -d'/' )
+          git -C "${1}/${REPO}" checkout -q ${master_branch}
+          for branch in $( git "${cmd_flags[@]}"  for-each-ref refs/heads/ "--format=%(refname:short)")
+          do
+            mergeBase=$( git "${cmd_flags[@]}"  merge-base ${master_branch} $branch)
+            rev=$( git "${cmd_flags[@]}" rev-parse "$branch^{tree}" )
+            committree=$( git "${cmd_flags[@]}"  commit-tree ${rev} -p $mergeBase -m _ )
+            if [[ $( git  "${cmd_flags[@]}" cherry ${master_branch} ${committree} ) == "-"* ]]
+            then
+              git -C "${1}/${REPO}" branch -D ${branch}
+            fi
+            $( git "${cmd_flags[@]}" checkout -q ${master_branch} )
+          done
+          if [[ -z ${QUIET+x} ]]
+          then
+            echo "Done at `date`"
+          fi
+        fi
       else
         sync_directory "$1/$REPO"
       fi
-      echo "Done at `date`"
     fi
   done
 }
 
-REPOSITORIES="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
 
-sync_directory $REPOSITORIES
+if [[ ! -z ${QUIET+x} &&  ${GIT_CLEANUP} -eq 1 ]]
+then
+  echo "WARNING: with both '-q' and '-c' the slow garbage collection on edx-platform might appear to hang. It will be fine."
+fi
+sync_directory $DIR
 
+if [[ ${#UNCLEAN[@]} -gt 0 ]]
+then
+  echo "The following directories weren't in clean state and couldn't be updated:"
+  echo ${UNCLEAN[@]}
+fi