diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 665346ad7009e..1b7ec1a576e24 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ errors.
 
 - Adds a new warning `--warning:ImplicitRangeConversion` that detects downsizing implicit conversions to range types (e.g., `int -> range[0..255]` or `range[1..256] -> range[0..255]`) that could cause runtime panics. Safe conversions like `range[0..255] -> range[0..65535]` and explicit casts do not trigger warnings. `int` to `Natural` and `Positive` conversions do not trigger warnings, which can be enabled with `--warning:systemRangeConversion`.
 
+
+- `std/parseopt`: `initOptParser` and `getopt` no longer fall back to `commandLineParams()` when given empty input (`""` or `@[]`). An explicit empty string or sequence now produces an empty parser. Code that relied on `""` or `@[]` values to implicitly re-parse the OS command line must be updated to call `initOptParser()` with the `cmdline` argument omitted instead.
+  The `cmdline = ""` default was removed from the string overload of `initOptParser`. The no-argument form now unambiguously resolves to the `seq[string]` overload with `commandLineParams()` as its default.
+
+
+- `std/cmdline.commandLineParams()` for NimScript now consistently returns only the script arguments (excluding the `nim` executable and its flags), fixing inconsistency between `std/cmdline` and `std/parseopt`.
+
+
 ## Standard library additions and changes
 
 [//]: # "Additions:"
diff --git a/compiler/nim.nim b/compiler/nim.nim
index ed6774983cbb1..3befb8377c2b7 100644
--- a/compiler/nim.nim
+++ b/compiler/nim.nim
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ proc nimbleLockExists(config: ConfigRef): bool =
   return fileExists(pd.string / nimbleLock)
 
 proc processCmdLine(pass: TCmdLinePass, cmd: string; config: ConfigRef) =
-  var p = parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
+  var p = if cmd.len == 0: parseopt.initOptParser()
+          else: parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
   var argsCount = 0
 
   config.commandLine.setLen 0
diff --git a/drnim/drnim.nim b/drnim/drnim.nim
index eb0d89aa28715..964f38ae0a839 100644
--- a/drnim/drnim.nim
+++ b/drnim/drnim.nim
@@ -1208,7 +1208,8 @@ proc mainCommand(graph: ModuleGraph) =
     genSuccessX(graph.config)
 
 proc processCmdLine(pass: TCmdLinePass, cmd: string; config: ConfigRef) =
-  var p = parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
+  var p = if cmd.len == 0: parseopt.initOptParser()
+          else: parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
   var argsCount = 1
 
   config.commandLine.setLen 0
diff --git a/lib/pure/parseopt.nim b/lib/pure/parseopt.nim
index 52c26d5a352fc..c0b56f4d6453d 100644
--- a/lib/pure/parseopt.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/parseopt.nim
@@ -450,39 +450,18 @@ proc initOptParser(cmdline: openArray[string];
                     )
   if prSepAllowEq    in rules: result.separators.incl('=')
   if prSepAllowColon in rules: result.separators.incl(':')
-  if cmdline.len == 0:
-    when declared(paramCount):
-      when defined(nimscript):
-        var ctr = 0
-        var firstNimsFound = false
-        for i in countup(0, paramCount()):
-          if firstNimsFound: 
-            result.cmds[ctr] = paramStr(i)
-            inc ctr, 1
-          if paramStr(i).toLowerAscii().endsWith(".nims") and not firstNimsFound:
-            firstNimsFound = true 
-            result.cmds = newSeq[string](paramCount()-i)
-      else:
-        result.cmds = newSeq[string](paramCount())
-        for i in countup(1, paramCount()):
-          result.cmds[i-1] = paramStr(i)
-    else:
-      # we cannot provide this for NimRtl creation on Posix, because we can't
-      # access the command line arguments then!
-      raiseAssert "empty command line given but" &
-        " real command line is not accessible"
 
-proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string];
+proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string] = commandLineParams();
                     shortNoVal: set[char] = {};
                     longNoVal: seq[string] = @[];
                     mode: CliMode = NimMode): OptParser =
-  ## Initializes the command line parser.
+  ## Initializes the command line parser from a sequence of arguments.
   ##
   ## **Parameters:**
   ##
-  ## - `cmdline`: Sequence of command line arguments to parse. If empty, the
-  ##   real command line as provided by the `os` module is retrieved instead.
-  ##   If the command line is not available, an assertion will be raised.
+  ## - `cmdline`: Sequence of arguments to parse. Defaults to
+  ##   `os.commandLineParams()`, which retrieves the actual command line arguments
+  ##   at the call site. Empty value means no arguments and has no side-effects.
   ## - `shortNoVal`: Set of short option characters that do not accept values.
   ##   See `shortNoVal and longNoVal<#nimshortnoval-and-nimlongnoval>`_ for details.
   ## - `longNoVal`: Sequence of long option names that do not accept values.
@@ -499,8 +478,8 @@ proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string];
                       shortNoVal = {'l'}, longNoVal = @["left"])
   initOptParser(cmdline, shortNoVal, longNoVal, toRules(mode))
 
-proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string],
-                    shortNoVal: set[char] = {},
+proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string] = commandLineParams();
+                    shortNoVal: set[char] = {};
                     longNoVal: seq[string] = @[];
                     allowWhitespaceAfterColon: bool): OptParser {.deprecated:
       "`allowWhitespaceAfterColon` is deprecated, use parser modes instead".} =
@@ -517,19 +496,22 @@ proc initOptParser*(cmdline: seq[string],
   if allowWhitespaceAfterColon == false: nimrules.excl prSepAllowDelimAfter
   initOptParser(cmdline, shortNoVal, longNoVal, nimrules)
 
-proc initOptParser*(cmdline = "";
+proc initOptParser*(cmdline: string;
                     shortNoVal: set[char] = {};
                     longNoVal: seq[string] = @[];
                     mode: CliMode = NimMode): OptParser =
   ## Initializes the command line parser from a command line string.
   ##
-  ## The `cmdline` string is parsed into tokens using shell-like quoting rules.
+  ## The `cmdline` string is split into tokens with `parseCmdLine proc`_
+  ## using shell-like quoting rules.
   ##
   ## **Parameters:**
   ##
-  ## - `cmdline`: Command line string to parse. If empty, the real command line
-  ##   as provided by the `os` module is retrieved instead. If the command line
-  ##   is not available, an assertion will be raised.
+  ## - `cmdline`: Command line string to parse. Empty value means no arguments
+  ##   and has no side-effects. To parse the actual OS command line arguments,
+  ##   use the `initOptParser(seq[string], seq[char], seq[string], NimMode)`,
+  ##   or just omit this parameter, which the compiler will resolve to that
+  ##   overload automatically.
   ## - `shortNoVal`: Set of short option characters that do not accept values.
   ##   See `shortNoVal and longNoVal<#nimshortnoval-and-nimlongnoval>`_ for details.
   ## - `longNoVal`: Sequence of long option names that do not accept values.
@@ -548,7 +530,7 @@ proc initOptParser*(cmdline = "";
                       shortNoVal = {'l'}, longNoVal = @["left"])
   initOptParser(parseCmdLine(cmdline), shortNoVal, longNoVal, toRules(mode))
 
-proc initOptParser*(cmdline = "";
+proc initOptParser*(cmdline: string;
                     shortNoVal: set[char] = {};
                     longNoVal: seq[string] = @[];
                     allowWhitespaceAfterColon: bool): OptParser {.deprecated:
@@ -585,10 +567,10 @@ proc handleShortOption(p: var OptParser; cmd: string) =
     p.inShortState = false
     p.pos = 0
     inc p.idx, n
-    
+
   template next(): untyped = p.cmds[p.idx + 1]
 
-  let canTakeVal = card(p.shortNoVal) > 0 and p.key[0] notin p.shortNoVal 
+  let canTakeVal = card(p.shortNoVal) > 0 and p.key[0] notin p.shortNoVal
   if i < cmd.len and cmd[i] in p.separators:
     # separator case
     if prShortAllowSep in p.rules:
@@ -779,16 +761,18 @@ iterator getopt*(p: var OptParser): tuple[kind: CmdLineKind, key,
     if p.kind == cmdEnd: break
     yield (p.kind, p.key, p.val)
 
-iterator getopt*(cmdline: seq[string] = @[];
+iterator getopt*(cmdline: seq[string] = commandLineParams();
                   shortNoVal: set[char] = {};
                   longNoVal: seq[string] = @[];
                   mode: CliMode = NimMode):
             tuple[kind: CmdLineKind, key, val: string] =
   ## Convenience iterator for iterating over command line arguments.
   ##
-  ## This creates a new `OptParser<#OptParser>`_. If no command line
-  ## arguments are provided, the real command line as provided by the
-  ## `os` module is retrieved instead.
+  ## This creates a new `OptParser<#OptParser>`_.
+  ##
+  ## `cmdline` is a sequence of arguments to parse. Defaults to
+  ## `os.commandLineParams()`, which retrieves the actual command line arguments
+  ## at the call site. Empty value means no arguments and has no side-effects.
   ##
   ## `shortNoVal` and `longNoVal` are used to specify which options
   ## do not take values. See the `documentation about these
diff --git a/lib/std/cmdline.nim b/lib/std/cmdline.nim
index 140c458f22474..8491512a620d3 100644
--- a/lib/std/cmdline.nim
+++ b/lib/std/cmdline.nim
@@ -279,9 +279,14 @@ when declared(paramCount) or defined(nimdoc):
   proc commandLineParams*(): seq[string] =
     ## Convenience proc which returns the command line parameters.
     ##
-    ## This returns **only** the parameters. If you want to get the application
+    ## Unlike `paramStr proc`_, returns **only** the parameters.
+    ## If you want to get the application
     ## executable filename, call `getAppFilename() <os.html#getAppFilename>`_.
     ##
+    ## When used from NimScript, arguments preceding and including the `.nims`
+    ## file are also excluded, returning only the arguments intended for the
+    ## script.
+    ##
     ## **Availability**: On Posix there is no portable way to get the command
     ## line from a DLL and thus the proc isn't defined in this environment. You
     ## can test for its availability with `declared()
@@ -303,8 +308,23 @@ when declared(paramCount) or defined(nimdoc):
     ##     # Do something else!
     ##   ```
     result = @[]
-    for i in 1..paramCount():
-      result.add(paramStr(i))
+    when defined(nimscript):
+      func isNimScriptExt(s: openArray[char]): bool =
+        let L = s.len
+        (L >= 5 and s[L-5] == '.' and (
+          (s[L-4] in {'n', 'N'}) and
+          (s[L-3] in {'i', 'I'}) and
+          (s[L-2] in {'m', 'M'}) and
+          (s[L-1] in {'s', 'S'})))
+      var firstNimsFound = false
+      for i in 0..paramCount(): # nimscript needs to check index 0
+        if firstNimsFound:
+          result.add(paramStr(i))
+        elif isNimScriptExt(paramStr(i)):
+          firstNimsFound = true
+    else:
+      for i in 1..paramCount():
+        result.add(paramStr(i))
 else:
   proc commandLineParams*(): seq[string] {.error:
   "commandLineParams() unsupported by dynamic libraries".} =
diff --git a/nimsuggest/nimsuggest.nim b/nimsuggest/nimsuggest.nim
index 6ee1433c07d50..06f43b3a78c44 100644
--- a/nimsuggest/nimsuggest.nim
+++ b/nimsuggest/nimsuggest.nim
@@ -668,7 +668,8 @@ proc mainCommand(graph: ModuleGraph) =
   close(results)
 
 proc processCmdLine*(pass: TCmdLinePass, cmd: string; conf: ConfigRef) =
-  var p = parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
+  var p = if cmd.len == 0: parseopt.initOptParser()
+          else: parseopt.initOptParser(cmd)
   var findProject = false
   while true:
     parseopt.next(p)