diff --git a/macos/Ghostty.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/macos/Ghostty.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index 6d883ded8..c7f5157e0 100644
--- a/macos/Ghostty.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/macos/Ghostty.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@
 			membershipExceptions = (
 				App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift,
 				"App/macOS/AppDelegate+Ghostty.swift",
+				App/macOS/CommandLineOpenFileFilter.swift,
 				App/macOS/main.swift,
 				App/macOS/MainMenu.xib,
 				Features/About/About.xib,
diff --git a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
index 544d86d45..127f3a014 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -92,6 +92,15 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject,
     /// seconds since the process was launched.
     private var applicationLaunchTime: TimeInterval = 0
 
+    /// AppKit treats positional command-line arguments as documents to open. This
+    /// filter consumes the corresponding open-file events for arguments following
+    /// `-e`. It is initialized lazily because most launches never open a file.
+    private lazy var commandLineOpenFileFilter = CommandLineOpenFileFilter(
+        arguments: CommandLine.arguments,
+        workingDirectory: FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath,
+        fileExists: { FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: $0) }
+    )
+
     /// This is the current configuration from the Ghostty configuration that we need.
     private var derivedConfig: DerivedConfig = DerivedConfig()
 
@@ -435,6 +444,14 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject,
     }
 
     func application(_ sender: NSApplication, openFile filename: String) -> Bool {
+        // `-e` makes existing path arguments part of the child command, but
+        // AppKit also reports those paths as documents to open. Only consume
+        // matching command arguments so unrelated Finder or Dock requests work.
+        if commandLineOpenFileFilter.shouldIgnore(filename) {
+            Self.logger.debug("ignoring command argument open-file event path=\(filename, privacy: .public)")
+            return true
+        }
+
         // Ghostty will validate as well but we can avoid creating an entirely new
         // surface by doing our own validation here. We can also show a useful error
         // this way.
diff --git a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/CommandLineOpenFileFilter.swift b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/CommandLineOpenFileFilter.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b4a92b64e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/CommandLineOpenFileFilter.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import Foundation
+
+/// Filters the open-file events AppKit creates from command arguments following
+/// `-e`. Each matching event is consumed once so later requests to open the same
+/// file are handled normally.
+final class CommandLineOpenFileFilter {
+    private let workingDirectory: String
+    private var filesToIgnore: Set<String>
+
+    init(
+        arguments: [String],
+        workingDirectory: String,
+        fileExists: (String) -> Bool
+    ) {
+        self.workingDirectory = workingDirectory
+
+        guard let commandIndex = arguments.firstIndex(of: "-e") else {
+            self.filesToIgnore = []
+            return
+        }
+
+        // Ghostty treats every argument following `-e` as part of the child
+        // command. Existing paths in that suffix are the arguments AppKit can
+        // independently turn into open-file events.
+        self.filesToIgnore = Set(arguments[arguments.index(after: commandIndex)...]
+            .compactMap { argument in
+                // Command arguments can be relative, while AppKit normally
+                // reports absolute paths for the corresponding open event.
+                let path = Self.absolutePath(argument, relativeTo: workingDirectory)
+
+                // Ignore only paths that exist during launch. A non-path
+                // argument cannot produce the duplicate event and retaining it
+                // could suppress a legitimate open if that path appears later.
+                return fileExists(path) ? path : nil
+            })
+    }
+
+    func shouldIgnore(_ filename: String) -> Bool {
+        let path = Self.absolutePath(filename, relativeTo: workingDirectory)
+
+        // Consume each match once. Later requests to open the same file may
+        // come from Finder, the Dock, or another invocation and must proceed.
+        return filesToIgnore.remove(path) != nil
+    }
+
+    private static func absolutePath(_ path: String, relativeTo workingDirectory: String) -> String {
+        let expanded = (path as NSString).expandingTildeInPath
+        let absolute = if (expanded as NSString).isAbsolutePath {
+            expanded
+        } else {
+            (workingDirectory as NSString).appendingPathComponent(expanded)
+        }
+
+        return (absolute as NSString).standardizingPath
+    }
+}
diff --git a/macos/Tests/CommandLineOpenFileFilterTests.swift b/macos/Tests/CommandLineOpenFileFilterTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a302a1c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/macos/Tests/CommandLineOpenFileFilterTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import Testing
+@testable import Ghostty
+
+@Suite
+struct CommandLineOpenFileFilterTests {
+    @Test func requiresExecuteFlag() {
+        let filter = CommandLineOpenFileFilter(
+            arguments: ["ghostty", "/tmp/file.txt"],
+            workingDirectory: "/tmp",
+            fileExists: { _ in true }
+        )
+
+        #expect(!filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/file.txt"))
+    }
+
+    @Test func ignoresExistingPathsAfterExecuteFlag() {
+        let existing: Set<String> = [
+            "/usr/bin/vim",
+            "/tmp/project/file.txt",
+            "/tmp/other.txt",
+        ]
+        let filter = CommandLineOpenFileFilter(
+            arguments: [
+                "ghostty",
+                "/tmp/before.txt",
+                "-e",
+                "/usr/bin/vim",
+                "./file.txt",
+                "../other.txt",
+                "missing.txt",
+            ],
+            workingDirectory: "/tmp/project",
+            fileExists: { existing.contains($0) }
+        )
+
+        #expect(!filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/before.txt"))
+        #expect(filter.shouldIgnore("/usr/bin/vim"))
+        #expect(filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/project/file.txt"))
+        #expect(filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/other.txt"))
+        #expect(!filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/project/missing.txt"))
+    }
+
+    @Test func ignoresEachPathOnce() {
+        let filter = CommandLineOpenFileFilter(
+            arguments: ["ghostty", "-e", "./file.txt"],
+            workingDirectory: "/tmp/project",
+            fileExists: { $0 == "/tmp/project/file.txt" }
+        )
+
+        #expect(filter.shouldIgnore("./file.txt"))
+        #expect(!filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/project/file.txt"))
+    }
+
+    @Test func preservesUnrelatedOpenFileRequests() {
+        let filter = CommandLineOpenFileFilter(
+            arguments: ["ghostty", "-e", "vim", "/tmp/command-file.txt"],
+            workingDirectory: "/tmp",
+            fileExists: { $0 == "/tmp/command-file.txt" }
+        )
+
+        #expect(!filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/finder-file.txt"))
+        #expect(filter.shouldIgnore("/tmp/command-file.txt"))
+    }
+}