diff --git a/lua/telescope/_.lua b/lua/telescope/_.lua
index e9b5e644da..7c6ed29275 100644
--- a/lua/telescope/_.lua
+++ b/lua/telescope/_.lua
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ local log = require "plenary.log"
 
 local async = require "plenary.async"
 local channel = require("plenary.async").control.channel
+local utils = require "telescope.utils"
 
 local M = {}
 
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ function AsyncJob.new(opts)
   self.stderr = opts.stderr or M.NullPipe()
 
   if opts.cwd and opts.cwd ~= "" then
-    self.uv_opts.cwd = vim.fn.expand(vim.fn.escape(opts.cwd, "$"))
+    self.uv_opts.cwd = utils.smart_path_expand(opts.cwd)
     -- this is a "illegal" hack for windows. E.g. If the git command returns `/` rather than `\` as delimiter,
     -- vim.fn.expand might just end up returning an empty string. Weird
     -- Because empty string is not allowed in libuv the job will not spawn. Solution is we just set it to opts.cwd
diff --git a/lua/telescope/from_entry.lua b/lua/telescope/from_entry.lua
index 4592d9bd16..4a176d7c37 100644
--- a/lua/telescope/from_entry.lua
+++ b/lua/telescope/from_entry.lua
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ This file is still WIP, so expect some changes if you're trying to consume these
 This will provide standard mechanism for accessing information from an entry.
 
 --============================================================================= ]]
+local utils = require "telescope.utils"
 
 local from_entry = {}
 
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ function from_entry.path(entry, validate, escape)
     -- TODO(conni2461): we are not going to return the expanded path because
     --                  this would lead to cache misses in the perviewer.
     --                  Requires overall refactoring in previewer interface
-    local expanded = vim.fn.expand(vim.fn.escape(path, "$?*[]"))
+    local expanded = utils.smart_path_expand(path)
     if (vim.fn.filereadable(expanded) + vim.fn.isdirectory(expanded)) == 0 then
       return
     end
diff --git a/lua/telescope/utils.lua b/lua/telescope/utils.lua
index 058054a283..3114b81fbe 100644
--- a/lua/telescope/utils.lua
+++ b/lua/telescope/utils.lua
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ local get_status = require("telescope.state").get_status
 
 local utils = {}
 
+utils.smart_path_expand = function(path)
+  return path:match "^[%%#<]" and vim.fn.expand(path) or path
+end
+
 utils.get_separator = function()
   return Path.path.sep
 end
@@ -221,7 +225,7 @@ utils.transform_path = function(opts, path)
         if opts.cwd then
           cwd = opts.cwd
           if not vim.in_fast_event() then
-            cwd = vim.fn.expand(opts.cwd)
+            cwd = utils.smart_path_expand(opts.cwd)
           end
         else
           cwd = vim.loop.cwd()