diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandCat.ts b/src/secrets/CommandCat.ts
index 96b65b7a..4f6885c9 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandCat.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandCat.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class CommandGet extends CommandPolykey {
             for (const [vaultName, secretPath] of secretPaths) {
               await writer.write({
                 nameOrId: vaultName,
-                secretName: secretPath,
+                secretName: secretPath ?? '/',
                 metadata: first
                   ? { ...auth, options: { continueOnError: true } }
                   : undefined,
diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandEdit.ts b/src/secrets/CommandEdit.ts
index 7a615d1e..f89269e1 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandEdit.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandEdit.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class CommandEdit extends CommandPolykey {
     this.argument(
       '<secretPath>',
       'Path to the secret to be edited, specified as <vaultName>:<directoryPath>',
-      binParsers.parseSecretPathValue,
+      binParsers.parseSecretPath,
     );
     this.addOption(binOptions.nodeId);
     this.addOption(binOptions.clientHost);
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class CommandEdit extends CommandPolykey {
             const writer = res.writable.getWriter();
             await writer.write({
               nameOrId: secretPath[0],
-              secretName: secretPath[1],
+              secretName: secretPath[1] ?? '/',
               metadata: auth,
             });
             await writer.close();
diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandList.ts b/src/secrets/CommandList.ts
index ef0c1f8f..a1a7fc26 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandList.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandList.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class CommandList extends CommandPolykey {
     this.argument(
       '<directoryPath>',
       'Directory to list files from, specified as <vaultName>[:<path>]',
-      binParsers.parseSecretPathOptional,
+      binParsers.parseSecretPath,
     );
     this.addOption(binOptions.nodeId);
     this.addOption(binOptions.clientHost);
diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandRemove.ts b/src/secrets/CommandRemove.ts
index 9fa527c3..d5ee7d58 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandRemove.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandRemove.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class CommandRemove extends CommandPolykey {
     this.addOption(binOptions.recursive);
     this.action(async (secretPaths, options) => {
       secretPaths = secretPaths.map((path: string) =>
-        binParsers.parseSecretPathValue(path),
+        binParsers.parseSecretPath(path),
       );
       const { default: PolykeyClient } = await import(
         'polykey/dist/PolykeyClient'
diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandStat.ts b/src/secrets/CommandStat.ts
index 26633aee..78bd561e 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandStat.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandStat.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class CommandStat extends CommandPolykey {
     this.argument(
       '<secretPath>',
       'Path to where the secret, specified as <vaultName>:<directoryPath>',
-      binParsers.parseSecretPathValue,
+      binParsers.parseSecretPath,
     );
     this.addOption(binOptions.nodeId);
     this.addOption(binOptions.clientHost);
diff --git a/src/secrets/CommandWrite.ts b/src/secrets/CommandWrite.ts
index 76bbad22..05192174 100644
--- a/src/secrets/CommandWrite.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/CommandWrite.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class CommandWrite extends CommandPolykey {
     this.argument(
       '<secretPath>',
       'Path to the secret, specified as <vaultName>:<directoryPath>',
-      binParsers.parseSecretPathValue,
+      binParsers.parseSecretPath,
     );
     this.addOption(binOptions.nodeId);
     this.addOption(binOptions.clientHost);
diff --git a/src/utils/parsers.ts b/src/utils/parsers.ts
index b0d026fe..cb163f69 100644
--- a/src/utils/parsers.ts
+++ b/src/utils/parsers.ts
@@ -65,12 +65,12 @@ function parseCoreCount(v: string): number | undefined {
   }
 }
 
-function parseSecretPathOptional(
-  secretPath: string,
-): [string, string?, string?] {
+function parseSecretPath(secretPath: string): [string, string?, string?] {
   // E.g. If 'vault1:a/b/c', ['vault1', 'a/b/c'] is returned
   //      If 'vault1', ['vault1, undefined] is returned
-  // splits out everything after an `=` separator
+  //      If 'vault1:', an error is thrown
+  //      If 'a/b/c', an error is thrown
+  // Splits out everything after an `=` separator
   const lastEqualIndex = secretPath.lastIndexOf('=');
   const splitSecretPath =
     lastEqualIndex === -1
@@ -89,18 +89,6 @@ function parseSecretPathOptional(
   return [vaultName, directoryPath, value];
 }
 
-function parseSecretPath(secretPath: string): [string, string, string?] {
-  // E.g. If 'vault1:a/b/c', ['vault1', 'a/b/c'] is returned
-  //      If 'vault1', an error is thrown
-  const [vaultName, secretName, value] = parseSecretPathOptional(secretPath);
-  if (secretName === undefined) {
-    throw new commander.InvalidArgumentError(
-      `${secretPath} is not of the format <vaultName>:<directoryPath>[=<value>]`,
-    );
-  }
-  return [vaultName, secretName, value];
-}
-
 function parseSecretPathValue(secretPath: string): [string, string, string?] {
   const [vaultName, directoryPath, value] = parseSecretPath(secretPath);
   if (value != null && !secretPathValueRegex.test(value)) {
@@ -108,6 +96,11 @@ function parseSecretPathValue(secretPath: string): [string, string, string?] {
       `${value} is not a valid value name`,
     );
   }
+  if (directoryPath == null) {
+    throw new commander.InvalidArgumentError(
+      `${secretPath} is not of the format <vaultName>:<directoryPath>[=<value>]`,
+    );
+  }
   return [vaultName, directoryPath, value];
 }
 
@@ -118,6 +111,11 @@ function parseSecretPathEnv(secretPath: string): [string, string, string?] {
       `${value} is not a valid environment variable name`,
     );
   }
+  if (directoryPath == null) {
+    throw new commander.InvalidArgumentError(
+      `${secretPath} is not of the format <vaultName>:<directoryPath>[=<value>]`,
+    );
+  }
   return [vaultName, directoryPath, value];
 }
 
@@ -221,7 +219,6 @@ export {
   validateParserToArgParser,
   validateParserToArgListParser,
   parseCoreCount,
-  parseSecretPathOptional,
   parseSecretPath,
   parseSecretPathValue,
   parseSecretPathEnv,