The value returned by (interactive "F") is not the one provided by the user. 1. Create a file, say /tmp/foo.el: (defun foo (path) (interactive "F") (message path)) 2. M-x evaluate-buffer 3. M-x foo and chose /tmp/. The value presented in the echo area is /tmp/foo.el, this is undesirable and very dangerous IMHO. It happens with both Emacs 24 and 26. Is this a bug or I'm overlooking something? Andrea