4 files changed, 40 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 88c75b90..73ca85e6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@
 /ranger_fm.egg-info
 
 /stuff/*
+
+.idea
+.pytest_cache
diff --git a/ranger/core/main.py b/ranger/core/main.py
index 3d36a357..e39c0501 100644
--- a/ranger/core/main.py
+++ b/ranger/core/main.py
@@ -93,10 +93,7 @@ def main(
         args.selectfile = os.path.abspath(args.selectfile)
         args.paths.insert(0, os.path.dirname(args.selectfile))
 
-    if args.paths:
-        paths = [p[7:] if p.startswith('file:///') else p for p in args.paths]
-    else:
-        paths = [os.environ.get('PWD', os.getcwd())]
+    paths = get_paths(args)
     paths_inaccessible = []
     for path in paths:
         try:
@@ -235,6 +232,24 @@ https://github.com/ranger/ranger/issues
         return exit_code  # pylint: disable=lost-exception
 
 
+def get_paths(args):
+    if args.paths:
+        prefix = 'file:///'
+        prefix_length = len(prefix)
+        paths = [path[prefix_length:] if path.startswith(prefix) else path for path in args.paths]
+    else:
+        start_directory = os.environ.get('PWD')
+        is_valid_start_directory = start_directory and os.path.exists(start_directory)
+        if not is_valid_start_directory:
+            start_directory = __get_home_directory()
+        paths = [start_directory]
+    return paths
+
+
+def __get_home_directory():
+    return os.path.expanduser('~')
+
+
 def xdg_path(env_var):
     path = os.environ.get(env_var)
     if path and os.path.isabs(path):
diff --git a/tests/ranger/core/__init__.py b/tests/ranger/core/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ranger/core/__init__.py
diff --git a/tests/ranger/core/test_main.py b/tests/ranger/core/test_main.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d992b8a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ranger/core/test_main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import collections
+import os
+
+from ranger.core import main
+
+
+def test_get_paths():
+    args_tuple = collections.namedtuple('args', 'paths')
+    args = args_tuple(paths=None)
+
+    paths = main.get_paths(args)
+
+    for path in paths:
+        assert os.path.exists(path)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    test_get_paths()