diff --git a/FileDeduplicator.Test/ExplicitPathTests.cs b/FileDeduplicator.Test/ExplicitPathTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d705f90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/FileDeduplicator.Test/ExplicitPathTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023-2026 ktsu-dev contributors
+
+namespace ktsu.FileDeduplicator.Test;
+
+using CommandLine;
+
+using ktsu.FileDeduplicator.Verbs;
+using ktsu.Semantics.Paths;
+
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Tests that an explicit <c>-p .</c> means the current directory rather than "no path given".
+/// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// <c>"."</c> used to be both the option's default and the marker that made a verb prompt, so
+/// <c>-p .</c> prompted anyway and read the next stdin line as the path. With input piped in, as in
+/// <c>echo y | Deduplicate -p .</c>, the <c>y</c> meant to confirm the deletion became the
+/// directory to work on (ktsu-dev/FileDeduplicator#145).
+/// </remarks>
+[TestClass]
+[DoNotParallelize]
+public sealed class ExplicitPathTests
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Parses a command line the way <c>Program.Main</c> does and returns the verb it selects.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="args">The command-line arguments.</param>
+	/// <returns>The parsed verb.</returns>
+	private static BaseVerb Parse(params string[] args)
+	{
+		BaseVerb? verb = null;
+		using Parser parser = new();
+		_ = parser.ParseArguments(args, Program.Verbs).WithParsed<BaseVerb>(parsed => verb = parsed);
+		Assert.IsNotNull(verb, $"'{string.Join(' ', args)}' did not parse.");
+		return verb;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Runs a verb parsed from <paramref name="args"/> with <paramref name="directory"/> as the
+	/// current directory.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="directory">The directory to run in.</param>
+	/// <param name="stdin">Lines for the verb's prompts.</param>
+	/// <param name="args">The command-line arguments.</param>
+	/// <returns>Everything the verb wrote to the console.</returns>
+	private static string RunIn(AbsoluteDirectoryPath directory, string stdin, params string[] args)
+	{
+		string original = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
+		try
+		{
+			Environment.CurrentDirectory = directory.WeakString;
+			return ConsoleCapture.Run(Parse(args), stdin);
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			Environment.CurrentDirectory = original;
+		}
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void ScanWithAnExplicitDotScansTheCurrentDirectoryWithoutPrompting()
+	{
+		using TempTree tree = new();
+		_ = tree.Write("a.txt", "alpha");
+		_ = tree.Write("aa.txt", "alpha");
+
+		string output = RunIn(tree.Root, "elsewhere\n", "Scan", "-p", ".");
+
+		Assert.DoesNotContain("Enter the path", output, "An explicit -p . was treated as no path.");
+		Assert.Contains("Found 1 group(s) of duplicate files", output);
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void DeduplicateWithAnExplicitDotReadsTheNextLineAsTheConfirmation()
+	{
+		using TempTree tree = new();
+		AbsoluteFilePath keeper = tree.Write("a.txt", "alpha");
+		AbsoluteFilePath copy = tree.Write("aa.txt", "alpha");
+
+		string output = RunIn(tree.Root, "y\n", "Deduplicate", "--path", ".");
+
+		Assert.DoesNotContain("Enter the path", output, "An explicit --path . was treated as no path.");
+		Assert.IsTrue(TempTree.Exists(keeper), "The kept copy was deleted.");
+		Assert.IsFalse(TempTree.Exists(copy), "The 'y' was not read as the confirmation.");
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void DryRunWithAnExplicitDotDoesNotPrompt()
+	{
+		using TempTree tree = new();
+		_ = tree.Write("a.txt", "alpha");
+
+		string output = RunIn(tree.Root, "elsewhere\n", "DryRun", "-p", ".");
+
+		Assert.DoesNotContain("Enter the path", output);
+		Assert.Contains("Found 1 file(s).", output);
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void StatsWithAnExplicitDotDoesNotPrompt()
+	{
+		using TempTree tree = new();
+		_ = tree.Write("a.txt", "alpha");
+
+		string output = RunIn(tree.Root, "elsewhere\n", "Stats", "-p", ".");
+
+		Assert.DoesNotContain("Enter the path", output);
+		Assert.Contains("Total files: 1", output);
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void LeavingOutThePathStillPrompts()
+	{
+		using TempTree tree = new();
+		_ = tree.Write("a.txt", "alpha");
+
+		string output = RunIn(tree.Root, $"{tree.Root.WeakString}\n", "Scan");
+
+		Assert.Contains("Enter the path to scan:", output);
+		Assert.Contains("Found 1 file(s).", output);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
index 34c0bcf..8017ecf 100644
--- a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
+++ b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
@@ -11,12 +11,17 @@ namespace ktsu.FileDeduplicator.Verbs;
 
 internal abstract class BaseVerb : ICommand
 {
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Gets or sets the path given with <c>-p</c>, or <see langword="null"/> when none was given and the
+	/// verb should ask for one. An explicit <c>-p .</c> means the current directory, so <c>"."</c>
+	/// cannot double as the "not supplied" marker.
+	/// </summary>
 	[Option('p', "path", Required = false, HelpText = "The root path to scan for files.")]
-	public string PathString { get; set; } = ".";
+	public string? PathString { get; set; }
 
 	public abstract bool IsActive { get; }
 
-	internal AbsoluteDirectoryPath Path => System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(PathString).As<AbsoluteDirectoryPath>();
+	internal AbsoluteDirectoryPath Path => System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(PathString ?? ".").As<AbsoluteDirectoryPath>();
 
 	public abstract void Run();
 
@@ -48,7 +53,7 @@ public override void Run()
 		finally
 		{
 			isActive = true;
-			PathString = ".";
+			PathString = null;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Deduplicate.cs b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Deduplicate.cs
index e53eac2..96efc49 100644
--- a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Deduplicate.cs
+++ b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Deduplicate.cs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ internal sealed class Deduplicate : BaseVerb<Deduplicate>
 {
 	internal override bool ValidateArgs()
 	{
-		if (PathString is "." or "")
+		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(PathString))
 		{
 			Console.Write("Enter the path to deduplicate: ");
 			string? input = Console.ReadLine()?.Trim();
diff --git a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/DryRun.cs b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/DryRun.cs
index 3b5d70f..6bdd9b0 100644
--- a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/DryRun.cs
+++ b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/DryRun.cs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ internal sealed class DryRun : BaseVerb<DryRun>
 {
 	internal override bool ValidateArgs()
 	{
-		if (PathString is "." or "")
+		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(PathString))
 		{
 			Console.Write("Enter the path to scan: ");
 			string? input = Console.ReadLine()?.Trim();
diff --git a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Scan.cs b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Scan.cs
index a519d91..a2df2b3 100644
--- a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Scan.cs
+++ b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Scan.cs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ internal sealed class Scan : BaseVerb<Scan>
 {
 	internal override bool ValidateArgs()
 	{
-		if (PathString is "." or "")
+		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(PathString))
 		{
 			Console.Write("Enter the path to scan: ");
 			string? input = Console.ReadLine()?.Trim();
diff --git a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Stats.cs b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Stats.cs
index 097a25b..45d1acb 100644
--- a/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Stats.cs
+++ b/FileDeduplicator/Verbs/Stats.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ internal sealed class Stats : BaseVerb<Stats>
 {
 	internal override bool ValidateArgs()
 	{
-		if (PathString is "." or "")
+		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(PathString))
 		{
 			Console.Write("Enter the path to analyze: ");
 			string? input = Console.ReadLine()?.Trim();