diff --git a/src/clients/dotnet/ci.zig b/src/clients/dotnet/ci.zig
index 1922d108dc..8fccb61372 100644
--- a/src/clients/dotnet/ci.zig
+++ b/src/clients/dotnet/ci.zig
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const Shell = @import("../../shell.zig");
 const TmpTigerBeetle = @import("../../testing/tmp_tigerbeetle.zig");
 
 pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    assert(shell.file_exists("TigerBeetle.sln"));
     try shell.exec("dotnet format --verify-no-changes", .{});
 
     // Unit tests.
@@ -24,13 +25,8 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
 
     // Integration tests.
     inline for (.{ "basic", "two-phase", "two-phase-many" }) |sample| {
-        var sample_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir(
-            "src/clients/dotnet/samples/" ++ sample,
-            .{},
-        );
-        defer sample_dir.close();
-
-        try sample_dir.setAsCwd();
+        try shell.pushd("./samples/" ++ sample);
+        defer shell.popd();
 
         var tmp_beetle = try TmpTigerBeetle.init(gpa, .{});
         defer tmp_beetle.deinit(gpa);
@@ -41,11 +37,6 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
 
     // Container smoke tests.
     if (builtin.target.os.tag == .linux) {
-        var client_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/dotnet/", .{});
-        defer client_dir.close();
-
-        try client_dir.setAsCwd();
-
         // Here, we want to check that our package does not break horrible on upstream containers
         // due to missing runtime dependencies, mismatched glibc ABI and similar issues.
         //
diff --git a/src/clients/go/ci.zig b/src/clients/go/ci.zig
index 2b1d361f7a..156b883104 100644
--- a/src/clients/go/ci.zig
+++ b/src/clients/go/ci.zig
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const Shell = @import("../../shell.zig");
 const TmpTigerBeetle = @import("../../testing/tmp_tigerbeetle.zig");
 
 pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    assert(shell.file_exists("go.mod"));
+
     // No unit tests for Go :-(
 
     // `go build`  won't compile the native library automatically, we need to do that ourselves.
@@ -31,10 +33,8 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     };
 
     inline for (.{ "basic", "two-phase", "two-phase-many" }) |sample| {
-        var sample_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/go/samples/" ++ sample, .{});
-        defer sample_dir.close();
-
-        try sample_dir.setAsCwd();
+        try shell.pushd("./samples/" ++ sample);
+        defer shell.popd();
 
         var tmp_beetle = try TmpTigerBeetle.init(gpa, .{});
         defer tmp_beetle.deinit(gpa);
diff --git a/src/clients/java/ci.zig b/src/clients/java/ci.zig
index c83b665949..09f3d715c2 100644
--- a/src/clients/java/ci.zig
+++ b/src/clients/java/ci.zig
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ const Shell = @import("../../shell.zig");
 const TmpTigerBeetle = @import("../../testing/tmp_tigerbeetle.zig");
 
 pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    assert(shell.file_exists("pom.xml"));
+
     // Java's maven doesn't support a separate test command, or a way to add dependency on a
     // project (as opposed to a compiled jar file).
     //
@@ -17,10 +19,8 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     try shell.exec("mvn --batch-mode --file pom.xml --quiet install", .{});
 
     inline for (.{ "basic", "two-phase", "two-phase-many" }) |sample| {
-        var sample_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/java/samples/" ++ sample, .{});
-        defer sample_dir.close();
-
-        try sample_dir.setAsCwd();
+        try shell.pushd("./samples/" ++ sample);
+        defer shell.popd();
 
         var tmp_beetle = try TmpTigerBeetle.init(gpa, .{});
         defer tmp_beetle.deinit(gpa);
diff --git a/src/clients/node/ci.zig b/src/clients/node/ci.zig
index eb4f231d99..188d6473d8 100644
--- a/src/clients/node/ci.zig
+++ b/src/clients/node/ci.zig
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const Shell = @import("../../shell.zig");
 const TmpTigerBeetle = @import("../../testing/tmp_tigerbeetle.zig");
 
 pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    assert(shell.file_exists("package.json"));
+
     // We have some unit-tests for node, but they are likely bitrotted, as they are not run on CI.
 
     // Integration tests.
@@ -18,10 +20,8 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     try shell.exec("npm pack --quiet", .{});
 
     inline for (.{ "basic", "two-phase", "two-phase-many" }) |sample| {
-        var sample_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/node/samples/" ++ sample, .{});
-        defer sample_dir.close();
-
-        try sample_dir.setAsCwd();
+        try shell.pushd("./samples/" ++ sample);
+        defer shell.popd();
 
         var tmp_beetle = try TmpTigerBeetle.init(gpa, .{});
         defer tmp_beetle.deinit(gpa);
@@ -33,10 +33,6 @@ pub fn tests(shell: *Shell, gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
 
     // Container smoke tests.
     if (builtin.target.os.tag == .linux) {
-        var client_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/node/", .{});
-        defer client_dir.close();
-
-        try client_dir.setAsCwd();
 
         // Installing node through <https://github.com/nodesource/distributions>.
 
diff --git a/src/scripts/ci.zig b/src/scripts/ci.zig
index bfaba2c9a6..33465833f9 100644
--- a/src/scripts/ci.zig
+++ b/src/scripts/ci.zig
@@ -60,15 +60,12 @@ pub fn main() !void {
                 var section = try shell.open_section(@tagName(language) ++ " ci");
                 defer section.close();
 
-                var client_src_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir(
-                    "src/clients/" ++ @tagName(language),
-                    .{},
-                );
-                defer client_src_dir.close();
+                {
+                    try shell.pushd("./src/clients/" ++ @tagName(language));
+                    defer shell.popd();
 
-                try client_src_dir.setAsCwd();
-
-                try ci.tests(shell, gpa);
+                    try ci.tests(shell, gpa);
+                }
 
                 // Piggy back on node client testing to verify our docs, as we use node to generate
                 // them anyway.
@@ -86,13 +83,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
 }
 
 fn build_docs(shell: *Shell) !void {
-    var docs_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir(
-        "src/docs_website",
-        .{},
-    );
-    defer docs_dir.close();
-
-    try docs_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("./src/docs_website");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     try shell.exec("npm install", .{});
     try shell.exec("npm run build", .{});
diff --git a/src/scripts/release.zig b/src/scripts/release.zig
index b87c11cd69..ff114ec18f 100644
--- a/src/scripts/release.zig
+++ b/src/scripts/release.zig
@@ -132,8 +132,6 @@ fn build_tigerbeetle(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !vo
     var section = try shell.open_section("build tigerbeetle");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
-
     const llvm_lipo = for (@as([2][]const u8, .{ "llvm-lipo-16", "llvm-lipo" })) |llvm_lipo| {
         if (shell.exec_stdout("{llvm_lipo} -version", .{
             .llvm_lipo = llvm_lipo,
@@ -220,10 +218,8 @@ fn build_dotnet(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("build dotnet");
     defer section.close();
 
-    var client_src_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/dotnet", .{});
-    defer client_src_dir.close();
-
-    try client_src_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("./src/clients/dotnet");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     const dotnet_version = shell.exec_stdout("dotnet --version", .{}) catch {
         fatal("can't find dotnet", .{});
@@ -236,7 +232,7 @@ fn build_dotnet(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     , .{ .version = info.version });
 
     try Shell.copy_path(
-        client_src_dir,
+        shell.cwd,
         try shell.print("TigerBeetle/bin/Release/tigerbeetle.{s}.nupkg", .{info.version}),
         dist_dir,
         try shell.print("tigerbeetle.{s}.nupkg", .{info.version}),
@@ -247,10 +243,8 @@ fn build_go(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("build go");
     defer section.close();
 
-    var client_src_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/go", .{});
-    defer client_src_dir.close();
-
-    try client_src_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("./src/clients/go");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     try shell.zig("build go_client -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe -Dconfig=production", .{});
 
@@ -259,7 +253,7 @@ fn build_go(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     var copied_count: u32 = 0;
     while (files_lines.next()) |file| {
         assert(file.len > 3);
-        try Shell.copy_path(client_src_dir, file, dist_dir, file);
+        try Shell.copy_path(shell.cwd, file, dist_dir, file);
         copied_count += 1;
     }
     assert(copied_count >= 10);
@@ -267,7 +261,7 @@ fn build_go(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     const native_files = try shell.find(.{ .where = &.{"."}, .extensions = &.{ ".a", ".lib" } });
     copied_count = 0;
     for (native_files) |native_file| {
-        try Shell.copy_path(client_src_dir, native_file, dist_dir, native_file);
+        try Shell.copy_path(shell.cwd, native_file, dist_dir, native_file);
         copied_count += 1;
     }
     // 5 = 3 + 2
@@ -291,18 +285,16 @@ fn build_java(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("build java");
     defer section.close();
 
-    var client_src_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/java", .{});
-    defer client_src_dir.close();
-
-    try client_src_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("./src/clients/java");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     const java_version = shell.exec_stdout("java --version", .{}) catch {
         fatal("can't find java", .{});
     };
     log.info("java version {s}", .{java_version});
 
-    try backup_create(client_src_dir, "pom.xml");
-    defer backup_restore(client_src_dir, "pom.xml");
+    try backup_create(shell.cwd, "pom.xml");
+    defer backup_restore(shell.cwd, "pom.xml");
 
     try shell.exec(
         \\mvn --batch-mode --quiet --file pom.xml
@@ -316,7 +308,7 @@ fn build_java(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     , .{});
 
     try Shell.copy_path(
-        client_src_dir,
+        shell.cwd,
         try shell.print("target/tigerbeetle-java-{s}.jar", .{info.version}),
         dist_dir,
         try shell.print("tigerbeetle-java-{s}.jar", .{info.version}),
@@ -327,28 +319,26 @@ fn build_node(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo, dist_dir: std.fs.Dir) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("build node");
     defer section.close();
 
-    var client_src_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/clients/node", .{});
-    defer client_src_dir.close();
-
-    try client_src_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("./src/clients/node");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     const node_version = shell.exec_stdout("node --version", .{}) catch {
         fatal("can't find nodejs", .{});
     };
     log.info("node version {s}", .{node_version});
 
-    try backup_create(client_src_dir, "package.json");
-    defer backup_restore(client_src_dir, "package.json");
+    try backup_create(shell.cwd, "package.json");
+    defer backup_restore(shell.cwd, "package.json");
 
-    try backup_create(client_src_dir, "package-lock.json");
-    defer backup_restore(client_src_dir, "package-lock.json");
+    try backup_create(shell.cwd, "package-lock.json");
+    defer backup_restore(shell.cwd, "package-lock.json");
 
     try shell.exec("npm version --no-git-tag-version {version}", .{ .version = info.version });
     try shell.exec("npm install", .{});
     try shell.exec("npm pack --quiet", .{});
 
     try Shell.copy_path(
-        client_src_dir,
+        shell.cwd,
         try shell.print("tigerbeetle-node-{s}.tgz", .{info.version}),
         dist_dir,
         try shell.print("tigerbeetle-node-{s}.tgz", .{info.version}),
@@ -359,7 +349,6 @@ fn publish(shell: *Shell, languages: LanguageSet, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish all");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist"));
 
     if (languages.contains(.zig)) {
@@ -447,7 +436,6 @@ fn publish(shell: *Shell, languages: LanguageSet, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     }
 
     if (languages.contains(.zig)) {
-        try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
         try shell.exec(
             \\gh release edit --draft=false
             \\  {tag}
@@ -490,7 +478,6 @@ fn publish_dotnet(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish dotnet");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist/dotnet"));
 
     const nuget_key = try shell.env_get("NUGET_KEY");
@@ -509,7 +496,6 @@ fn publish_go(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish go");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist/go"));
 
     const token = try shell.env_get("TIGERBEETLE_GO_PAT");
@@ -538,10 +524,8 @@ fn publish_go(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
         );
     }
 
-    var tigerbeetle_go_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("tigerbeetle-go", .{});
-    defer tigerbeetle_go_dir.close();
-
-    try tigerbeetle_go_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("tigerbeetle-go");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     try shell.exec("git add .", .{});
     // Native libraries are ignored in this repository, but we want to push them to the
@@ -571,7 +555,6 @@ fn publish_java(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish java");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist/java"));
 
     // These variables don't have a special meaning in maven, and instead are a part of
@@ -611,7 +594,6 @@ fn publish_node(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish node");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist/node"));
 
     // `NODE_AUTH_TOKEN` env var doesn't have a special meaning in npm. It does have special meaning
@@ -630,7 +612,6 @@ fn publish_docker(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     var section = try shell.open_section("publish docker");
     defer section.close();
 
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
     assert(try shell.dir_exists("dist/tigerbeetle"));
 
     try shell.exec(
@@ -693,15 +674,12 @@ fn publish_docs(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
     defer section.close();
 
     {
-        var docs_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("src/docs_website", .{});
-        defer docs_dir.close();
-
-        try docs_dir.setAsCwd();
+        try shell.pushd("src/docs_website");
+        defer shell.popd();
 
         try shell.exec("npm install", .{});
         try shell.exec("npm run build", .{});
     }
-    try shell.project_root.setAsCwd();
 
     const token = try shell.env_get("TIGERBEETLE_DOCS_PAT");
     try shell.exec(
@@ -729,10 +707,8 @@ fn publish_docs(shell: *Shell, info: VersionInfo) !void {
         );
     }
 
-    var tigerbeetle_docs_dir = try shell.project_root.openDir("tigerbeetle-docs", .{});
-    defer tigerbeetle_docs_dir.close();
-
-    try tigerbeetle_docs_dir.setAsCwd();
+    try shell.pushd("tigerebeetle-docs");
+    defer shell.popd();
 
     try shell.exec("git add .", .{});
     try shell.env.put("GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", "TigerBeetle Bot");
diff --git a/src/shell.zig b/src/shell.zig
index 722f3877d5..aebcd057ee 100644
--- a/src/shell.zig
+++ b/src/shell.zig
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ const assert = std.debug.assert;
 
 const Shell = @This();
 
+const cwd_stack_max = 16;
+
 /// For internal use by the `Shell` itself.
 gpa: std.mem.Allocator,
 
@@ -31,13 +33,19 @@ arena: std.heap.ArenaAllocator,
 
 /// Root directory of this repository.
 ///
-/// Prefer this to `std.fs.cwd()` if possible.
-///
 /// This is initialized when a shell is created. It would be more flexible to lazily initialize this
 /// on the first access, but, given that we always use `Shell` in the context of our repository,
 /// eager initialization is more ergonomic.
 project_root: std.fs.Dir,
 
+/// Shell's logical cwd which is used for all functions in this file. It might be different from
+/// `std.fs.cwd()` and is set to `project_root` on init.
+cwd: std.fs.Dir,
+
+// Stack of working directories backing pushd/popd.
+cwd_stack: [cwd_stack_max]std.fs.Dir,
+cwd_stack_count: usize,
+
 env: std.process.EnvMap,
 
 /// True if the process is run in CI (the CI env var is set)
@@ -50,6 +58,9 @@ pub fn create(gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !*Shell {
     var project_root = try discover_project_root();
     errdefer project_root.close();
 
+    var cwd = try project_root.openDir(".", .{});
+    errdefer cwd.close();
+
     var env = try std.process.getEnvMap(gpa);
     errdefer env.deinit();
 
@@ -62,6 +73,9 @@ pub fn create(gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !*Shell {
         .gpa = gpa,
         .arena = arena,
         .project_root = project_root,
+        .cwd = cwd,
+        .cwd_stack = undefined,
+        .cwd_stack_count = 0,
         .env = env,
         .ci = ci,
     };
@@ -72,7 +86,11 @@ pub fn create(gpa: std.mem.Allocator) !*Shell {
 pub fn destroy(shell: *Shell) void {
     const gpa = shell.gpa;
 
+    assert(shell.cwd_stack_count == 0); // pushd not paired by popd
+
     shell.env.deinit();
+    shell.cwd.close();
+    shell.project_root.close();
     shell.arena.deinit();
     gpa.destroy(shell);
 }
@@ -153,6 +171,8 @@ const Section = struct {
     }
 };
 
+/// Convenience string formatting function which uses shell's arena and doesn't require
+/// freeing the resulting string.
 pub fn print(shell: *Shell, comptime fmt: []const u8, fmt_args: anytype) ![]const u8 {
     return std.fmt.allocPrint(shell.arena.allocator(), fmt, fmt_args);
 }
@@ -165,11 +185,41 @@ pub fn env_get(shell: *Shell, var_name: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
     return try std.process.getEnvVarOwned(shell.arena.allocator(), var_name);
 }
 
+/// Change `shell`'s working directory. It *must* be followed by
+///
+///     defer shell.popd();
+///
+/// to restore the previous directory back.
+pub fn pushd(shell: *Shell, path: []const u8) !void {
+    assert(shell.cwd_stack_count < cwd_stack_max);
+    assert(path[0] == '.'); // allow only explicitly relative paths
+
+    const cwd_new = try shell.cwd.openDir(path, .{});
+
+    shell.cwd_stack[shell.cwd_stack_count] = shell.cwd;
+    shell.cwd_stack_count += 1;
+    shell.cwd = cwd_new;
+}
+
+pub fn popd(shell: *Shell) void {
+    shell.cwd.close();
+    shell.cwd_stack_count -= 1;
+    shell.cwd = shell.cwd_stack[shell.cwd_stack_count];
+}
+
 /// Checks if the path exists and is a directory.
+///
+/// Note: this api is prone to TOCTOU and exists primarily for assertions.
 pub fn dir_exists(shell: *Shell, path: []const u8) !bool {
-    _ = shell;
+    return subdir_exists(shell.cwd, path);
+}
 
-    return subdir_exists(std.fs.cwd(), path);
+/// Checks if the path exists and is a file.
+///
+/// Note: this api is prone to TOCTOU and exists primarily for assertions.
+pub fn file_exists(shell: *Shell, path: []const u8) bool {
+    const stat = shell.cwd.statFile(path) catch return false;
+    return stat.kind == .file;
 }
 
 fn subdir_exists(dir: std.fs.Dir, path: []const u8) !bool {
@@ -206,9 +256,8 @@ pub fn find(shell: *Shell, options: FindOptions) ![]const []const u8 {
 
     var result = std.ArrayList([]const u8).init(shell.arena.allocator());
 
-    const cwd = std.fs.cwd();
     for (options.where) |base_path| {
-        var base_dir = try cwd.openIterableDir(base_path, .{});
+        var base_dir = try shell.cwd.openIterableDir(base_path, .{});
         defer base_dir.close();
 
         var walker = try base_dir.walk(shell.gpa);
@@ -277,7 +326,12 @@ pub fn exec(shell: Shell, comptime cmd: []const u8, cmd_args: anytype) !void {
 
     try expand_argv(&argv, cmd, cmd_args);
 
+    // TODO(Zig): use cwd_dir once that is available https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/5190
+    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    const cwd_path = try shell.cwd.realpath(".", &buffer);
+
     var child = std.ChildProcess.init(argv.slice(), shell.gpa);
+    child.cwd = cwd_path;
     child.env_map = &shell.env;
     child.stdin_behavior = .Ignore;
     child.stdout_behavior = .Inherit;
@@ -302,9 +356,14 @@ pub fn exec_status_ok(shell: *Shell, comptime cmd: []const u8, cmd_args: anytype
 
     try expand_argv(&argv, cmd, cmd_args);
 
+    // TODO(Zig): use cwd_dir once that is available https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/5190
+    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    const cwd_path = try shell.cwd.realpath(".", &buffer);
+
     const res = std.ChildProcess.exec(.{
         .allocator = shell.gpa,
         .argv = argv.slice(),
+        .cwd = cwd_path,
     }) catch return false;
     defer shell.gpa.free(res.stderr);
     defer shell.gpa.free(res.stdout);
@@ -326,9 +385,14 @@ pub fn exec_stdout(shell: *Shell, comptime cmd: []const u8, cmd_args: anytype) !
 
     try expand_argv(&argv, cmd, cmd_args);
 
+    // TODO(Zig): use cwd_dir once that is available https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/5190
+    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    const cwd_path = try shell.cwd.realpath(".", &buffer);
+
     const child = try std.ChildProcess.exec(.{
         .allocator = shell.arena.allocator(),
         .argv = argv.slice(),
+        .cwd = cwd_path,
     });
     defer shell.arena.allocator().free(child.stderr);
     errdefer {
@@ -360,7 +424,12 @@ pub fn spawn(shell: Shell, comptime cmd: []const u8, cmd_args: anytype) !std.Chi
 
     try expand_argv(&argv, cmd, cmd_args);
 
+    // TODO(Zig): use cwd_dir once that is available https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/5190
+    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    const cwd_path = try shell.cwd.realpath(".", &buffer);
+
     var child = std.ChildProcess.init(argv.slice(), shell.gpa);
+    child.cwd = cwd_path;
     child.stdin_behavior = .Ignore;
     child.stdout_behavior = .Pipe;
     child.stderr_behavior = .Pipe;
@@ -386,7 +455,12 @@ pub fn zig(shell: Shell, comptime cmd: []const u8, cmd_args: anytype) !void {
     try argv.append_new_arg(zig_exe);
     try expand_argv(&argv, cmd, cmd_args);
 
+    // TODO(Zig): use cwd_dir once that is available https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/5190
+    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    const cwd_path = try shell.cwd.realpath(".", &buffer);
+
     var child = std.ChildProcess.init(argv.slice(), shell.gpa);
+    child.cwd = cwd_path;
     child.stdin_behavior = .Ignore;
     child.stdout_behavior = .Inherit;
     child.stderr_behavior = .Inherit;