diff --git a/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.ts b/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.ts
index c8c7530609..ca8badebe1 100644
--- a/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.ts
+++ b/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.ts
@@ -2,25 +2,20 @@ import ignore from "ignore";
 
 import { ToolImpl } from ".";
 import { walkDir } from "../../indexing/walkDir";
-import { resolveInputPath } from "../../util/pathResolver";
 import { ContinueError, ContinueErrorReason } from "../../util/errors";
-
-export function resolveLsToolDirPath(dirPath: string | undefined) {
-  if (!dirPath || dirPath === ".") {
-    return "/";
-  }
-  // Don't strip leading slash from absolute paths - let the resolver handle it
-  if (dirPath.startsWith(".") && !dirPath.startsWith("./")) {
-    return dirPath.slice(1);
-  }
-  return dirPath.replace(/\\/g, "/");
-}
+import { resolveInputPath } from "../../util/pathResolver";
 
 const MAX_LS_TOOL_LINES = 200;
 
 export const lsToolImpl: ToolImpl = async (args, extras) => {
-  const dirPath = resolveLsToolDirPath(args?.dirPath);
-  const resolvedPath = await resolveInputPath(extras.ide, dirPath);
+  if (!args.dirPath) {
+    throw new ContinueError(
+      ContinueErrorReason.Unspecified,
+      `No paths to explore were provided`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const resolvedPath = await resolveInputPath(extras.ide, args?.dirPath);
   if (!resolvedPath) {
     throw new ContinueError(
       ContinueErrorReason.DirectoryNotFound,
diff --git a/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.vitest.ts b/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.vitest.ts
index c3c571294d..095d6087c6 100644
--- a/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.vitest.ts
+++ b/core/tools/implementations/lsTool.vitest.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
 import { ToolExtras } from "../..";
 import * as walkDirModule from "../../indexing/walkDir";
-import { lsToolImpl, resolveLsToolDirPath } from "./lsTool";
+import { lsToolImpl } from "./lsTool";
 
 vi.mock("../../indexing/walkDir");
 
@@ -12,30 +12,6 @@ const mockExtras = {
   },
 } as unknown as ToolExtras;
 
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath handles undefined path", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath(undefined)).toBe("/");
-});
-
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath handles empty string", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath("")).toBe("/");
-});
-
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath handles dot", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath(".")).toBe("/");
-});
-
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath handles dot relative", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath("./hi")).toBe("./hi");
-});
-
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath normalizes backslashes to forward slashes", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath("path\\to\\dir")).toBe("path/to/dir");
-});
-
-test("resolveLsToolDirPath preserves forward slashes", () => {
-  expect(resolveLsToolDirPath("path/to/dir")).toBe("path/to/dir");
-});
-
 test("lsToolImpl truncates output when entries exceed MAX_LS_TOOL_LINES", async () => {
   // Generate more than MAX_LS_TOOL_LINES entries (which is 200)
   const mockEntries = Array.from({ length: 250 }, (_, i) => `file${i}.txt`);
diff --git a/core/util/pathResolver.ts b/core/util/pathResolver.ts
index 25fe758168..86c9a3d920 100644
--- a/core/util/pathResolver.ts
+++ b/core/util/pathResolver.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ export interface ResolvedPath {
  */
 async function isUriWithinWorkspace(ide: IDE, uri: string): Promise<boolean> {
   const workspaceDirs = await ide.getWorkspaceDirs();
-  const { foundInDir } = findUriInDirs(uri, workspaceDirs);
+  const { foundInDir, uri: foundUri } = findUriInDirs(uri, workspaceDirs);
 
-  // Check both: within workspace path AND file exists
+  // Check both: within workspace path AND resolved file exists
   if (foundInDir !== null) {
-    return await ide.fileExists(uri);
+    return await ide.fileExists(foundUri);
   }
 
   return false;