diff --git a/lua/neocrush/cvm/init.lua b/lua/neocrush/cvm/init.lua
index 0ed3dc1..cc2fcfa 100644
--- a/lua/neocrush/cvm/init.lua
+++ b/lua/neocrush/cvm/init.lua
@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ local cvm_config = vim.deepcopy(default_cvm_config)
 ---@type string Go module base URL derived from upstream
 local GO_MODULE = 'github.com/charmbracelet/crush'
 
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Paths
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+---Expand user and environment variable references in configured paths.
+---@param path string
+---@return string
+local function expand_path(path)
+  return vim.fn.expand(vim.fn.expandcmd(path))
+end
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Highlight Groups
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -337,7 +348,7 @@ function M.pick_local(repo_path)
     return
   end
 
-  repo_path = vim.fn.expand(repo_path)
+  repo_path = expand_path(repo_path)
   if vim.fn.isdirectory(repo_path) ~= 1 then
     vim.notify('Not a directory: ' .. repo_path, vim.log.levels.ERROR)
     return
@@ -413,4 +424,6 @@ M._get_config = function()
   return cvm_config
 end
 
+M._expand_path = expand_path
+
 return M
diff --git a/tests/cvm_spec.lua b/tests/cvm_spec.lua
index f7eadae..8dbd9a4 100644
--- a/tests/cvm_spec.lua
+++ b/tests/cvm_spec.lua
@@ -31,6 +31,16 @@ describe('neocrush.cvm', function()
     end)
   end)
 
+  describe('path expansion', function()
+    it('should expand environment variables and home directory', function()
+      vim.env.NEOCRUSH_CVM_TEST_DIR = 'neocrush-test'
+
+      local expanded = cvm._expand_path '~/$NEOCRUSH_CVM_TEST_DIR'
+
+      assert.are.same(vim.fn.expand '~/neocrush-test', expanded)
+    end)
+  end)
+
   describe('get_current_version', function()
     it('should call callback with nil when crush is not installed', function()
       local original = vim.fn.executable