diff --git a/.changeset/gentle-mails-sip.md b/.changeset/gentle-mails-sip.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..61a768da9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gentle-mails-sip.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"trigger.dev": patch
+---
+
+fix: unintended project initialization at absolute path `/trigger` during project initialization
diff --git a/packages/cli-v3/DEVELOPMENT.md b/packages/cli-v3/DEVELOPMENT.md
index 5f30cbb40a..254da81379 100644
--- a/packages/cli-v3/DEVELOPMENT.md
+++ b/packages/cli-v3/DEVELOPMENT.md
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@ cd packages/cli-v3
 pnpm run dev
 ```
 
-2. In the job-catalog folder you can use the CLI
+2. Test the local CLI using the job-catalogs located in the `/references` directory
 
 ```sh
 pnpm i
-pnpm exec trigger-v3-cli
+pnpm exec trigger <command>
 ```
 
 ---
diff --git a/packages/cli-v3/src/commands/init.ts b/packages/cli-v3/src/commands/init.ts
index c5c7ba5a5d..32e1ff017e 100644
--- a/packages/cli-v3/src/commands/init.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-v3/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -229,7 +229,10 @@ async function createTriggerDir(
         throw new OutroCommandError();
       }
 
-      const triggerDir = resolve(process.cwd(), location);
+      // Ensure that the path is always relative by stripping leading '/' if present
+      const relativeLocation = location.replace(/^\//, "");
+
+      const triggerDir = resolve(process.cwd(), relativeLocation);
 
       logger.debug({ triggerDir });