diff --git a/internal/cmd/catcmd.go b/internal/cmd/catcmd.go
index 0d93a2c24b3..0014943424b 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/catcmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/catcmd.go
@@ -27,9 +27,7 @@ func (c *Config) newCatCmd() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func (c *Config) runCatCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState) error {
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
-		mustBeManaged: true,
-	})
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cmd/chattrcmd.go b/internal/cmd/chattrcmd.go
index 057f2d94ac9..689b3f1dc22 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/chattrcmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/chattrcmd.go
@@ -150,9 +150,8 @@ func (c *Config) runChattrCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *ch
 		return err
 	}
 
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args[1:], targetRelPathsOptions{
-		mustBeManaged: true,
-		recursive:     c.chattr.recursive,
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args[1:], &targetRelPathsOptions{
+		recursive: c.chattr.recursive,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/internal/cmd/config.go b/internal/cmd/config.go
index ea779703f08..ae496cf0de5 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/config.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/config.go
@@ -631,9 +631,8 @@ func (c *Config) applyArgs(
 			return err
 		}
 	default:
-		targetRelPaths, err = c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
-			mustBeManaged: true,
-			recursive:     options.recursive,
+		targetRelPaths, err = c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
+			recursive: options.recursive,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -2437,9 +2436,8 @@ func (c *Config) setEnvironmentVariables() error {
 // sourceAbsPaths returns the source absolute paths for each target path in
 // args.
 func (c *Config) sourceAbsPaths(sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState, args []string) ([]chezmoi.AbsPath, error) {
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
 		mustBeInSourceState: true,
-		mustBeManaged:       true,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -2462,7 +2460,6 @@ func (c *Config) targetRelPath(absPath chezmoi.AbsPath) (chezmoi.RelPath, error)
 
 type targetRelPathsOptions struct {
 	mustBeInSourceState bool
-	mustBeManaged       bool
 	recursive           bool
 }
 
@@ -2471,7 +2468,7 @@ type targetRelPathsOptions struct {
 func (c *Config) targetRelPaths(
 	sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState,
 	args []string,
-	options targetRelPathsOptions,
+	options *targetRelPathsOptions,
 ) (chezmoi.RelPaths, error) {
 	targetRelPaths := make(chezmoi.RelPaths, 0, len(args))
 	for _, arg := range args {
@@ -2484,16 +2481,16 @@ func (c *Config) targetRelPaths(
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		sourceStateEntry := sourceState.Get(targetRelPath)
-		if options.mustBeManaged && sourceStateEntry == nil {
+		if sourceStateEntry == nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: not managed", arg)
 		}
-		if options.mustBeInSourceState {
+		if options != nil && options.mustBeInSourceState {
 			if _, ok := sourceStateEntry.(*chezmoi.SourceStateRemove); ok {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: not in source state", arg)
 			}
 		}
 		targetRelPaths = append(targetRelPaths, targetRelPath)
-		if options.recursive {
+		if options != nil && options.recursive {
 			parentRelPath := targetRelPath
 			// FIXME we should not call s.TargetRelPaths() here - risk of
 			// accidentally quadratic
diff --git a/internal/cmd/editcmd.go b/internal/cmd/editcmd.go
index 8a55bb38511..8a9ad256418 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/editcmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/editcmd.go
@@ -76,9 +76,8 @@ func (c *Config) runEditCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
 		mustBeInSourceState: true,
-		mustBeManaged:       true,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/internal/cmd/forgetcmd.go b/internal/cmd/forgetcmd.go
index 62d1e737185..7ce64f4e9a8 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/forgetcmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/forgetcmd.go
@@ -28,9 +28,7 @@ func (c *Config) newForgetCmd() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func (c *Config) runForgetCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState) error {
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
-		mustBeManaged: true,
-	})
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cmd/mergecmd.go b/internal/cmd/mergecmd.go
index 3ed2a4a739f..17d95663477 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/mergecmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/mergecmd.go
@@ -37,9 +37,8 @@ func (c *Config) newMergeCmd() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func (c *Config) runMergeCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState) error {
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
 		mustBeInSourceState: true,
-		mustBeManaged:       false,
 		recursive:           true,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/cmd/readdcmd.go b/internal/cmd/readdcmd.go
index 92b899939ea..544d1b9c1e0 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/readdcmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/readdcmd.go
@@ -52,9 +52,8 @@ func (c *Config) runReAddCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *che
 		)
 	} else {
 		var err error
-		targetRelPaths, err = c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
-			mustBeManaged: true,
-			recursive:     c.reAdd.recursive,
+		targetRelPaths, err = c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
+			recursive: c.reAdd.recursive,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/internal/cmd/removecmd.go b/internal/cmd/removecmd.go
index 88f2e806ae0..1c0df4a875b 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/removecmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/removecmd.go
@@ -37,9 +37,8 @@ func (c *Config) newRemoveCmd() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func (c *Config) runRemoveCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, sourceState *chezmoi.SourceState) error {
-	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, targetRelPathsOptions{
-		mustBeManaged: true,
-		recursive:     c.remove.recursive,
+	targetRelPaths, err := c.targetRelPaths(sourceState, args, &targetRelPathsOptions{
+		recursive: c.remove.recursive,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err