diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/filesystem/cd.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/filesystem/cd.rs
index 2ad57b505c..2ad032db81 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/filesystem/cd.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/filesystem/cd.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,13 @@ impl Command for Cd {
                     Some(v) => {
                         let path = v.as_path()?;
                         let path = match nu_path::canonicalize_with(path, &cwd) {
-                            Ok(p) => p,
+                            Ok(p) => {
+                                if !p.is_dir() {
+                                    return Err(ShellError::NotADirectory(v.span()?));
+                                }
+                                p
+                            }
+
                             Err(e) => {
                                 return Err(ShellError::DirectoryNotFoundHelp(
                                     v.span()?,
diff --git a/crates/nu-protocol/src/shell_error.rs b/crates/nu-protocol/src/shell_error.rs
index af163fa0ae..c3b46becb5 100644
--- a/crates/nu-protocol/src/shell_error.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-protocol/src/shell_error.rs
@@ -185,6 +185,10 @@ pub enum ShellError {
     #[diagnostic(code(nu::shell::io_error), url(docsrs), help("{0}"))]
     IOError(String),
 
+    #[error("Cannot change to directory")]
+    #[diagnostic(code(nu::shell::cannot_cd_to_directory), url(docsrs))]
+    NotADirectory(#[label("is not a directory")] Span),
+
     #[error("Directory not found")]
     #[diagnostic(code(nu::shell::directory_not_found), url(docsrs))]
     DirectoryNotFound(#[label("directory not found")] Span),