diff --git a/builtin/add.c b/builtin/add.c
index f5d6a33a6a4a9b0c8459bcfeafd8bf17d469db7e..34c935826011ba5a02d66421d034e9f93a6e27f2 100644
--- a/builtin/add.c
+++ b/builtin/add.c
@@ -507,6 +507,7 @@ int cmd_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (add_new_files) {
 		int baselen;
+		struct pathspec empty_pathspec;
 
 		/* Set up the default git porcelain excludes */
 		memset(&dir, 0, sizeof(dir));
@@ -515,8 +516,9 @@ int cmd_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			setup_standard_excludes(&dir);
 		}
 
+		memset(&empty_pathspec, 0, sizeof(empty_pathspec));
 		/* This picks up the paths that are not tracked */
-		baselen = fill_directory(&dir, implicit_dot ? NULL : pathspec.raw);
+		baselen = fill_directory(&dir, implicit_dot ? &empty_pathspec : &pathspec);
 		if (pathspec.nr)
 			seen = prune_directory(&dir, pathspec.raw, baselen,
 					implicit_dot ? WARN_IMPLICIT_DOT : 0);
diff --git a/builtin/clean.c b/builtin/clean.c
index fdd4980b12e94c6c3b9bb76df874b7f52df3ecdd..d540ca4a0a862ae33222df34bad63d799941774e 100644
--- a/builtin/clean.c
+++ b/builtin/clean.c
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ int cmd_clean(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		       PATHSPEC_PREFER_CWD,
 		       prefix, argv);
 
-	fill_directory(&dir, pathspec.raw);
+	fill_directory(&dir, &pathspec);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < dir.nr; i++) {
 		struct dir_entry *ent = dir.entries[i];
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 4bc075422e3c17e7666ed90e4a35be020586be49..76a6a60906e4c26508a63950dc72b4250155e271 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ static int grep_directory(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 	if (exc_std)
 		setup_standard_excludes(&dir);
 
-	fill_directory(&dir, pathspec->raw);
+	fill_directory(&dir, pathspec);
 	for (i = 0; i < dir.nr; i++) {
 		const char *name = dir.entries[i]->name;
 		int namelen = strlen(name);
diff --git a/builtin/ls-files.c b/builtin/ls-files.c
index 50e6edf07e9d706ed5208ced7d0740ab2310b84e..fa1a6bec01fd65ca70f4c9a53d4f835537272361 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-files.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ static void show_files(struct dir_struct *dir)
 
 	/* For cached/deleted files we don't need to even do the readdir */
 	if (show_others || show_killed) {
-		fill_directory(dir, pathspec.raw);
+		fill_directory(dir, &pathspec);
 		if (show_others)
 			show_other_files(dir);
 		if (show_killed)
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 19978d3d59753a810503cf6dbac9eacb0f16c474..290c7a33cbd38aaccd5510a3b2cf50b90da89dff 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ char *common_prefix(const char **pathspec)
 	return len ? xmemdupz(*pathspec, len) : NULL;
 }
 
-int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char **pathspec)
+int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 {
 	size_t len;
 
@@ -150,10 +150,10 @@ int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char **pathspec)
 	 * Calculate common prefix for the pathspec, and
 	 * use that to optimize the directory walk
 	 */
-	len = common_prefix_len(pathspec);
+	len = common_prefix_len(pathspec->raw);
 
 	/* Read the directory and prune it */
-	read_directory(dir, pathspec ? *pathspec : "", len, pathspec);
+	read_directory(dir, pathspec->nr ? pathspec->raw[0] : "", len, pathspec);
 	return len;
 }
 
@@ -1388,14 +1388,20 @@ static int treat_leading_path(struct dir_struct *dir,
 	return rc;
 }
 
-int read_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *path, int len, const char **pathspec)
+int read_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *path, int len, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 {
 	struct path_simplify *simplify;
 
+	/*
+	 * Check out create_simplify()
+	 */
+	if (pathspec)
+		GUARD_PATHSPEC(pathspec, PATHSPEC_FROMTOP | PATHSPEC_MAXDEPTH);
+
 	if (has_symlink_leading_path(path, len))
 		return dir->nr;
 
-	simplify = create_simplify(pathspec);
+	simplify = create_simplify(pathspec ? pathspec->raw : NULL);
 	if (!len || treat_leading_path(dir, path, len, simplify))
 		read_directory_recursive(dir, path, len, 0, simplify);
 	free_simplify(simplify);
diff --git a/dir.h b/dir.h
index 229ccc8d7947394ad67036d154dd5cee8d90e6bd..076dd962efd60ba450979fee0d5d3d923e3f24d8 100644
--- a/dir.h
+++ b/dir.h
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ extern int match_pathspec_depth(const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 				int prefix, char *seen);
 extern int within_depth(const char *name, int namelen, int depth, int max_depth);
 
-extern int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char **pathspec);
-extern int read_directory(struct dir_struct *, const char *path, int len, const char **pathspec);
+extern int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const struct pathspec *pathspec);
+extern int read_directory(struct dir_struct *, const char *path, int len, const struct pathspec *pathspec);
 
 extern int is_excluded_from_list(const char *pathname, int pathlen, const char *basename,
 				 int *dtype, struct exclude_list *el);
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index fae0c276222937e7a5ad5a01a13d60bbe108637f..33baf0a698176c7df93e14046b388b0750fcaee4 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -514,7 +514,7 @@ static void wt_status_collect_untracked(struct wt_status *s)
 		dir.flags |= DIR_SHOW_IGNORED_TOO;
 	setup_standard_excludes(&dir);
 
-	fill_directory(&dir, s->pathspec.raw);
+	fill_directory(&dir, &s->pathspec);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < dir.nr; i++) {
 		struct dir_entry *ent = dir.entries[i];