diff --git a/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse.go b/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse.go
index 9951065617..b099d1c0a9 100644
--- a/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse.go
+++ b/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse.go
@@ -128,8 +128,11 @@ func ParseURI(uri string) (*Connection, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	addPrecedingSlash := true
+
 	if scheme == "" {
 		scheme = ConnectionTypeWsh
+		addPrecedingSlash = false
 		if len(rest) != len(uri) {
 			// This accounts for when the uri starts with "//", which would get trimmed in the first split.
 			parseWshPath()
@@ -152,7 +155,7 @@ func ParseURI(uri string) (*Connection, error) {
 		}
 		if strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "/~") {
 			remotePath = strings.TrimPrefix(remotePath, "/")
-		} else if len(remotePath) > 1 && !windowsDriveRegex.MatchString(remotePath) && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "/") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "~") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "./") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "../") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, ".\\") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "..\\") && remotePath != ".." {
+		} else if addPrecedingSlash && (len(remotePath) > 1 && !windowsDriveRegex.MatchString(remotePath) && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "/") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "~") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "./") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "../") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, ".\\") && !strings.HasPrefix(remotePath, "..\\") && remotePath != "..") {
 			remotePath = "/" + remotePath
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse_test.go b/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse_test.go
index c530c8e768..82ccc83625 100644
--- a/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse_test.go
+++ b/pkg/remote/connparse/connparse_test.go
@@ -212,6 +212,50 @@ func TestParseURI_WSHCurrentPath(t *testing.T) {
 	if c.GetFullURI() != expected {
 		t.Fatalf("expected full URI to be %q, got %q", expected, c.GetFullURI())
 	}
+
+	cstr = "path/to/file"
+	c, err = connparse.ParseURI(cstr)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to parse URI: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected = "path/to/file"
+	if c.Path != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected path to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Path)
+	}
+	expected = "current"
+	if c.Host != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected host to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Host)
+	}
+	expected = "wsh"
+	if c.Scheme != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected scheme to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Scheme)
+	}
+	expected = "wsh://current/path/to/file"
+	if c.GetFullURI() != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected full URI to be %q, got %q", expected, c.GetFullURI())
+	}
+
+	cstr = "/etc/path/to/file"
+	c, err = connparse.ParseURI(cstr)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to parse URI: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected = "/etc/path/to/file"
+	if c.Path != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected path to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Path)
+	}
+	expected = "current"
+	if c.Host != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected host to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Host)
+	}
+	expected = "wsh"
+	if c.Scheme != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected scheme to be %q, got %q", expected, c.Scheme)
+	}
+	expected = "wsh://current/etc/path/to/file"
+	if c.GetFullURI() != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected full URI to be %q, got %q", expected, c.GetFullURI())
+	}
 }
 
 func TestParseURI_WSHCurrentPathWindows(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/wshrpc/wshremote/wshremote.go b/pkg/wshrpc/wshremote/wshremote.go
index f324f52fec..f66c8cdaa9 100644
--- a/pkg/wshrpc/wshremote/wshremote.go
+++ b/pkg/wshrpc/wshremote/wshremote.go
@@ -348,11 +348,113 @@ func (impl *ServerImpl) RemoteFileCopyCommand(ctx context.Context, data wshrpc.C
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot parse source URI %q: %w", srcUri, err)
 	}
+
+	copyFileFunc := func(path string, finfo fs.FileInfo, srcFile io.Reader) (int64, error) {
+		destinfo, err = os.Stat(path)
+		if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot stat file %q: %w", path, err)
+		}
+
+		if destinfo != nil {
+			if destinfo.IsDir() {
+				if !finfo.IsDir() {
+					// try to create file in directory
+					path = filepath.Join(path, filepath.Base(finfo.Name()))
+					newdestinfo, err := os.Stat(path)
+					if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+						return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot stat file %q: %w", path, err)
+					}
+					if newdestinfo != nil && !overwrite {
+						return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create file %q, file exists at path, overwrite not specified", path)
+					}
+				} else if !merge && !overwrite {
+					return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create directory %q, directory exists at path, neither overwrite nor merge specified", path)
+				} else if overwrite {
+					err := os.RemoveAll(path)
+					if err != nil {
+						return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot remove directory %q: %w", path, err)
+					}
+				}
+			} else {
+				if finfo.IsDir() {
+					if !overwrite {
+						return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create file %q, directory exists at path, overwrite not specified", path)
+					} else {
+						err := os.RemoveAll(path)
+						if err != nil {
+							return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot remove directory %q: %w", path, err)
+						}
+					}
+				} else if !overwrite {
+					return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create file %q, file exists at path, overwrite not specified", path)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if finfo.IsDir() {
+			err := os.MkdirAll(path, finfo.Mode())
+			if err != nil {
+				return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create directory %q: %w", path, err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), 0755)
+			if err != nil {
+				return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create parent directory %q: %w", filepath.Dir(path), err)
+			}
+		}
+
+		file, err := os.OpenFile(path, os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_TRUNC, finfo.Mode())
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot create new file %q: %w", path, err)
+		}
+		defer file.Close()
+		_, err = io.Copy(file, srcFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("cannot write file %q: %w", path, err)
+		}
+
+		return finfo.Size(), nil
+	}
+
 	if srcConn.Host == destConn.Host {
 		srcPathCleaned := filepath.Clean(wavebase.ExpandHomeDirSafe(srcConn.Path))
-		err := os.Rename(srcPathCleaned, destPathCleaned)
+
+		srcFileStat, err := os.Stat(srcPathCleaned)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot copy file %q to %q: %w", srcPathCleaned, destPathCleaned, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot stat file %q: %w", srcPathCleaned, err)
+		}
+
+		if srcFileStat.IsDir() {
+			err = filepath.Walk(srcPathCleaned, func(path string, info fs.FileInfo, err error) error {
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				srcFilePath := path
+				destFilePath := filepath.Join(destPathCleaned, strings.TrimPrefix(path, srcPathCleaned))
+				var file *os.File
+				if !info.IsDir() {
+					file, err = os.Open(srcFilePath)
+					if err != nil {
+						return fmt.Errorf("cannot open file %q: %w", srcFilePath, err)
+					}
+					defer file.Close()
+				}
+				_, err = copyFileFunc(destFilePath, info, file)
+				return err
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("cannot copy %q to %q: %w", srcUri, destUri, err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			file, err := os.Open(srcPathCleaned)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("cannot open file %q: %w", srcPathCleaned, err)
+			}
+			defer file.Close()
+			_, err = copyFileFunc(destPathCleaned, srcFileStat, file)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("cannot copy %q to %q: %w", srcUri, destUri, err)
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		timeout := DefaultTimeout
@@ -376,70 +478,11 @@ func (impl *ServerImpl) RemoteFileCopyCommand(ctx context.Context, data wshrpc.C
 			}
 			numFiles++
 			finfo := next.FileInfo()
-			nextPath := filepath.Join(destPathCleaned, next.Name)
-			destinfo, err = os.Stat(nextPath)
-			if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
-				return fmt.Errorf("cannot stat file %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-			}
-			if !finfo.IsDir() {
-				totalBytes += finfo.Size()
-			}
-
-			if destinfo != nil {
-				if destinfo.IsDir() {
-					if !finfo.IsDir() {
-						if !overwrite {
-							return fmt.Errorf("cannot create directory %q, file exists at path, overwrite not specified", nextPath)
-						} else {
-							err := os.Remove(nextPath)
-							if err != nil {
-								return fmt.Errorf("cannot remove file %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-							}
-						}
-					} else if !merge && !overwrite {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot create directory %q, directory exists at path, neither overwrite nor merge specified", nextPath)
-					} else if overwrite {
-						err := os.RemoveAll(nextPath)
-						if err != nil {
-							return fmt.Errorf("cannot remove directory %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-						}
-					}
-				} else {
-					if finfo.IsDir() {
-						if !overwrite {
-							return fmt.Errorf("cannot create file %q, directory exists at path, overwrite not specified", nextPath)
-						} else {
-							err := os.RemoveAll(nextPath)
-							if err != nil {
-								return fmt.Errorf("cannot remove directory %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-							}
-						}
-					} else if !overwrite {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot create file %q, file exists at path, overwrite not specified", nextPath)
-					}
-				}
-			} else {
-				if finfo.IsDir() {
-					err := os.MkdirAll(nextPath, finfo.Mode())
-					if err != nil {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot create directory %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-					}
-				} else {
-					err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(nextPath), 0755)
-					if err != nil {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot create parent directory %q: %w", filepath.Dir(nextPath), err)
-					}
-					file, err := os.OpenFile(nextPath, os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_TRUNC, finfo.Mode())
-					if err != nil {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot create new file %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-					}
-					_, err = io.Copy(file, reader)
-					if err != nil {
-						return fmt.Errorf("cannot write file %q: %w", nextPath, err)
-					}
-					file.Close()
-				}
+			n, err := copyFileFunc(filepath.Join(destPathCleaned, next.Name), finfo, reader)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("cannot copy file %q: %w", next.Name, err)
 			}
+			totalBytes += n
 			return nil
 		})
 		if err != nil {