diff --git a/scsh/syscalls.scm b/scsh/syscalls.scm
index 4976177..58ca6ce 100644
--- a/scsh/syscalls.scm
+++ b/scsh/syscalls.scm
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@
 (define-errno-syscall (%chdir dir) %chdir/errno)
 
 (define (chdir . maybe-dir)
-  (let ((dir (:optional maybe-dir ".")))
+  (let ((dir (:optional maybe-dir (home-dir))))
     (%chdir (ensure-file-name-is-nondirectory dir))))