diff --git a/fish/functions/mchsh.fish b/fish/functions/mchsh.fish
index 7ca2cac3..48c65786 100644
--- a/fish/functions/mchsh.fish
+++ b/fish/functions/mchsh.fish
@@ -22,13 +22,8 @@ function mchsh -d "Wrapper around 'machinectl shell'"
         set mchsh_args -l
     end
 
-    # If the current working directory starts with '/home', it needs to be
-    # translated into a path that the container can use.
-    if string match -qr ^$HOME $PWD
-        set container_folder (string replace $HOME /run/host$HOME $PWD)
-    else
-        set container_folder $PWD
-    end
-
-    machinectl shell -q $user_host $SHELL -C "cd $container_folder" $mchsh_args
+    # Use fish's --init-commands to drop into the current working directory,
+    # instead of $HOME, which is not really useful if working on the host and
+    # wanting to drop into the guest to work.
+    machinectl shell -q $user_host $SHELL -C 'cd '(nspawn_adjust_path $PWD) $mchsh_args
 end
diff --git a/fish/functions/nspawn_adjust_path.fish b/fish/functions/nspawn_adjust_path.fish
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96ad4158
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fish/functions/nspawn_adjust_path.fish
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env fish
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Nathan Chancellor
+
+function nspawn_adjust_path -d "Translate $HOME paths into /run/host$HOME paths"
+    if string match -qr ^$HOME $argv[1]
+        set prefix /run/host
+    end
+
+    printf '%s%s\n' $prefix $argv[1]
+end