diff --git a/news/3386.trivial.rst b/news/3386.trivial.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..632b815303
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/3386.trivial.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Decouple project from the existence of Pipfile.
diff --git a/pipenv/cli/command.py b/pipenv/cli/command.py
index ec1bef6138..84dd0c21ca 100644
--- a/pipenv/cli/command.py
+++ b/pipenv/cli/command.py
@@ -154,7 +154,11 @@ def cli(
             # There is no virtualenv yet.
             if not project.virtualenv_exists:
                 echo(
-                    crayons.red("No virtualenv has been created for this project yet!"),
+                    "{}({}){}".format(
+                        crayons.red("No virtualenv has been created for this project"),
+                        crayons.white(project.project_directory, bold=True),
+                        crayons.red(" yet!")
+                    ),
                     err=True,
                 )
                 ctx.abort()
diff --git a/pipenv/core.py b/pipenv/core.py
index 4fb7939e0f..c6d76f1c09 100644
--- a/pipenv/core.py
+++ b/pipenv/core.py
@@ -540,11 +540,16 @@ def ensure_project(
     # Automatically use an activated virtualenv.
     if PIPENV_USE_SYSTEM:
         system = True
-    if not project.pipfile_exists:
-        if deploy is True:
-            raise exceptions.PipfileNotFound
-        else:
-            project.touch_pipfile()
+    if not project.pipfile_exists and deploy:
+        raise exceptions.PipfileNotFound
+    # Fail if working under /
+    if not project.name:
+        click.echo(
+            "{0}: Pipenv is not intended to work under the root directory, "
+            "please choose another path.".format(crayons.red("ERROR")),
+            err=True
+        )
+        sys.exit(1)
     # Skip virtualenv creation when --system was used.
     if not system:
         ensure_virtualenv(
@@ -607,24 +612,24 @@ def shorten_path(location, bold=False):
 def do_where(virtualenv=False, bare=True):
     """Executes the where functionality."""
     if not virtualenv:
-        location = project.pipfile_location
-        # Shorten the virtual display of the path to the virtualenv.
-        if not bare:
-            location = shorten_path(location)
-        if not location:
+        if not project.pipfile_exists:
             click.echo(
                 "No Pipfile present at project home. Consider running "
                 "{0} first to automatically generate a Pipfile for you."
                 "".format(crayons.green("`pipenv install`")),
                 err=True,
             )
+            return
+        location = project.pipfile_location
+        # Shorten the virtual display of the path to the virtualenv.
+        if not bare:
+            location = shorten_path(location)
         elif not bare:
             click.echo(
                 "Pipfile found at {0}.\n  Considering this to be the project home."
                 "".format(crayons.green(location)),
                 err=True,
             )
-            pass
         else:
             click.echo(project.project_directory)
     else:
diff --git a/pipenv/project.py b/pipenv/project.py
index e8550a041a..aeb7a40f9f 100644
--- a/pipenv/project.py
+++ b/pipenv/project.py
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ def name(self):
 
     @property
     def pipfile_exists(self):
-        return bool(self.pipfile_location)
+        return os.path.isfile(self.pipfile_location)
 
     @property
     def required_python_version(self):
@@ -237,11 +237,7 @@ def required_python_version(self):
 
     @property
     def project_directory(self):
-        if self.pipfile_location is not None:
-            return os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.pipfile_location, os.pardir))
-
-        else:
-            return None
+        return os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.pipfile_location, os.pardir))
 
     @property
     def requirements_exists(self):
@@ -255,8 +251,7 @@ def is_venv_in_project(self):
 
     @property
     def virtualenv_exists(self):
-        # TODO: Decouple project from existence of Pipfile.
-        if self.pipfile_exists and os.path.exists(self.virtualenv_location):
+        if os.path.exists(self.virtualenv_location):
             if os.name == "nt":
                 extra = ["Scripts", "activate.bat"]
             else:
@@ -470,7 +465,7 @@ def pipfile_location(self):
             try:
                 loc = pipfile.Pipfile.find(max_depth=PIPENV_MAX_DEPTH)
             except RuntimeError:
-                loc = None
+                loc = "Pipfile"
             self._pipfile_location = _normalized(loc)
         return self._pipfile_location
 
@@ -499,6 +494,8 @@ def parsed_pipfile(self):
 
     def read_pipfile(self):
         # Open the pipfile, read it into memory.
+        if not self.pipfile_exists:
+            return ""
         with io.open(self.pipfile_location) as f:
             contents = f.read()
             self._pipfile_newlines = preferred_newlines(f)
@@ -659,11 +656,6 @@ def dev_packages(self):
         """Returns a list of dev-packages, for pip-tools to consume."""
         return self._build_package_list("dev-packages")
 
-    def touch_pipfile(self):
-        """Simply touches the Pipfile, for later use."""
-        with open("Pipfile", "a"):
-            os.utime("Pipfile", None)
-
     @property
     def pipfile_is_empty(self):
         if not self.pipfile_exists:
@@ -680,7 +672,6 @@ def create_pipfile(self, python=None):
             ConfigOptionParser, make_option_group, index_group
         )
 
-        name = self.name if self.name is not None else "Pipfile"
         config_parser = ConfigOptionParser(name=self.name)
         config_parser.add_option_group(make_option_group(index_group, config_parser))
         install = config_parser.option_groups[0]
@@ -834,7 +825,7 @@ def write_lockfile(self, content):
 
     @property
     def pipfile_sources(self):
-        if "source" not in self.parsed_pipfile:
+        if self.pipfile_is_empty or "source" not in self.parsed_pipfile:
             return [DEFAULT_SOURCE]
         # We need to make copies of the source info so we don't
         # accidentally modify the cache. See #2100 where values are