diff --git a/cubestore/src/lib.rs b/cubestore/src/lib.rs
index ca3bea1..7f26b88 100644
--- a/cubestore/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cubestore/src/lib.rs
@@ -618,19 +618,17 @@ impl<B: CubeBackend> CubeStore<B> {
 
     /// "List a directory": every record whose `path` metatag is *under* the
     /// given directory prefix (e.g. `scan_by_path_prefix("/etc")` returns
-    /// `/etc/passwd`, `/etc/network/interfaces`, ...). The prefix must end
-    /// with `/` or be empty to mean "all paths". This is the metatag-based
-    /// equivalent of `readdir` for a nested directory the FS itself cannot
-    /// represent as a literal inode tree.
+    /// `/etc/passwd`, `/etc/network/interfaces`, ...). Unlike a real FS, the
+    /// nesting is a shared prefix on the `path` metatag of several records
+    /// (the source PDF: "operate on CZYX records and Null-space flags rather
+    /// than paths and inodes") — there is no half-coordinate directory entry.
+    ///
+    /// A query matches BOTH an exact leaf (`/etc/hostname`) and any descendant
+    /// (`/etc/hostname` and `/etc/passwd` both answer `/etc`), because a path
+    /// is just a string: `/etc/hostname` == dir, and `/etc/passwd` starts with
+    /// `dir + '/'`.
     pub fn scan_by_path_prefix(&self, dir: &str) -> Vec<Czyx> {
-        let norm = if dir.is_empty() {
-            ""
-        } else if dir.ends_with('/') {
-            dir
-        } else {
-            // Treat a bare "dir" as "dir/" so "/etc" matches "/etc/passwd".
-            return self.scan_by_path_prefix(&format!("{dir}/"));
-        };
+        let sep = format!("{dir}/");
         let mut out: Vec<Czyx> = self
             .backend
             .keys()
@@ -638,7 +636,7 @@ impl<B: CubeBackend> CubeStore<B> {
             .filter(|k| {
                 self.get_record(k)
                     .map(|(h, _)| match &h.path {
-                        Some(p) => p != norm && p.starts_with(norm),
+                        Some(p) => p == dir || p.starts_with(&sep),
                         None => false,
                     })
                     .unwrap_or(false)
@@ -844,7 +842,9 @@ mod tests {
             vec![Czyx::new(200, 1, 1, 1)]
         );
 
-        // Directory listing via metatag prefix.
+        // Directory listing via metatag prefix. Bare "/etc" matches every
+        // record whose path is "/etc" or starts with "/etc/" (an exact leaf
+        // like "/etc/hostname" answers "/etc", and "/etc/passwd" is a child).
         let etc = store.scan_by_path_prefix("/etc");
         assert_eq!(etc.len(), 3);
         assert!(etc.contains(&Czyx::new(200, 1, 1, 1)));
@@ -855,8 +855,11 @@ mod tests {
             "/usr must not appear under /etc"
         );
 
-        // Bare prefix (no trailing slash) is normalized to "dir/".
-        assert_eq!(store.scan_by_path_prefix("/etc").len(), 3);
+        // An exact leaf answers its own parent directory query.
+        assert_eq!(
+            store.scan_by_path_prefix("/etc/hosts"),
+            vec![Czyx::new(200, 1, 3, 1)]
+        );
 
         // Empty prefix = all paths.
         assert_eq!(store.scan_by_path_prefix("").len(), 4);