diff --git a/gortools/src/main/java/gorsat/process/GorSessionFactory.java b/gortools/src/main/java/gorsat/process/GorSessionFactory.java
index 4474b38b..ca671c40 100644
--- a/gortools/src/main/java/gorsat/process/GorSessionFactory.java
+++ b/gortools/src/main/java/gorsat/process/GorSessionFactory.java
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 import org.gorpipe.gor.session.GenericFactory;
 import org.gorpipe.gor.session.GorSession;
 
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+
 public abstract class GorSessionFactory extends GenericFactory<GorSession> {
 
     protected static String updateCommonRoot(String commonRootOpt) {
@@ -33,10 +35,28 @@ protected static String updateCommonRoot(String commonRootOpt) {
         }
         if (commonRootOpt != null) {
             if (commonRootOpt.trim().length() == 0) {
-                commonRootOpt = "./";
-            } else if (commonRootOpt.length() > 2 && commonRootOpt.charAt(1) == ':' && !commonRootOpt.endsWith("\\")) { // windows path hack
+                // Default to the process's actual absolute CWD, not the
+                // literal string "./" -- resolving a relative path
+                // against "./" is a no-op in this codebase's URI-based
+                // path resolution (PathUtils.resolve: resolving anything
+                // against a relative base just returns it unchanged),
+                // so anything that needed real anchoring against this
+                // default quietly stayed relative/un-anchored instead
+                // (e.g. PGOR's dictionary-folder write caching -- see
+                // the .gord.link mechanism in GeneralQueryHandler.
+                // getResultsLinkPath, which silently mis-resolves and
+                // fails with a "Resource Error" on a fabricated
+                // version_XXXX.gord name when this root isn't a real,
+                // absolute path). This value is not used for access-
+                // control decisions -- the real enforcement path
+                // (DriverBackedSecureFileReader) always sources its own
+                // root independently -- so this only affects path-
+                // resolution/anchoring correctness, not security scoping.
+                commonRootOpt = Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toString();
+            }
+            if (commonRootOpt.length() > 2 && commonRootOpt.charAt(1) == ':' && !commonRootOpt.endsWith("\\")) { // windows path hack
                 commonRootOpt = commonRootOpt + '\\';
-            } else if (!commonRootOpt.endsWith("/")) {
+            } else if (!commonRootOpt.endsWith("/") && !commonRootOpt.endsWith("\\")) {
                 commonRootOpt = commonRootOpt + '/';
             }
         }
diff --git a/model/src/main/java/org/gorpipe/gor/model/DriverBackedFileReader.java b/model/src/main/java/org/gorpipe/gor/model/DriverBackedFileReader.java
index b5667a7f..d5145a5f 100644
--- a/model/src/main/java/org/gorpipe/gor/model/DriverBackedFileReader.java
+++ b/model/src/main/java/org/gorpipe/gor/model/DriverBackedFileReader.java
@@ -65,7 +65,18 @@ public class DriverBackedFileReader extends FileReader {
 
     private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DriverBackedFileReader.class);
 
-    private static final String DEFAULT_COMMON_ROOT = "./";
+    // The process's actual absolute CWD, not the literal string "./" --
+    // resolving a relative path against "./" is a no-op in this
+    // codebase's URI-based path resolution (PathUtils.resolve), so
+    // anything needing real anchoring against this default (e.g. PGOR's
+    // dictionary-folder write caching -- see GorSessionFactory.
+    // updateCommonRoot()'s own matching fix and docstring) quietly
+    // stayed relative/un-anchored instead. Not used for access-control
+    // decisions -- this class's own validateAccess() is a no-op, and the
+    // real enforcement path (DriverBackedSecureFileReader) always
+    // sources its root independently -- so this only affects path-
+    // resolution/anchoring correctness, not security scoping.
+    private static final String DEFAULT_COMMON_ROOT = PathUtils.markAsFolder(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toString());
 
     final static int GZIP_BUFFER_SIZE = Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("gor.gzip.buffer.size", "2046"));