diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
index ecc98d204..014d43e62 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ import Data.Text (Text)
 import Data.Text qualified as T
 import Data.Text.IO qualified as T
 import Data.Time (Day)
-import Safe (headDef, headMay)
+import Safe (headDef)
 import System.Directory (doesFileExist)
 import System.Environment (getEnv)
 import System.FilePath ((<.>), (</>), splitDirectories, splitFileName, takeFileName)
@@ -223,18 +223,8 @@ defaultJournalPath = do
     homedir <- fromMaybe "" <$> getHomeSafe
     let defaultfile = homedir </> journalDefaultFilename
     return defaultfile
-  else do
-    -- If it contains glob metacharacters, expand the pattern and error if no matches.
-    -- Otherwise just expand ~ and return the path, even if the file doesn't exist yet.
-    let hasGlobChars = any (`elem` p) ("*?[{" :: [Char])
-    if hasGlobChars
-      then do
-        mf <- headMay <$> expandGlob "." p `C.catch` (\(_::C.IOException) -> return [])
-        case mf of
-          Just f -> return f
-          Nothing -> error' $ "LEDGER_FILE glob pattern \"" <> p <> "\" matched no files"
-      else
-        expandPath "." p
+  else
+    expandPathOrGlob "." p
 
 -- | Like defaultJournalPath, but return an error message instead of raising an error.
 defaultJournalPathSafely :: IO (Either String String)
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/IO.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/IO.hs
index 1227cd719..8826dcfe8 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/IO.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/IO.hs
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ module Hledger.Utils.IO (
   expandHomePath,
   expandPath,
   expandGlob,
+  expandPathOrGlob,
   sortByModTime,
   openFileOrStdin,
   readFileOrStdinPortably,
@@ -423,6 +424,26 @@ expandPath curdir p = (if isRelative p then (curdir </>) else id) <$> expandHome
 expandGlob :: FilePath -> FilePath -> IO [FilePath]
 expandGlob curdir p = expandPath curdir p >>= glob <&> sort  -- PARTIAL:
 
+-- | Like expandPath, but if the path contains glob metacharacters (* ? [ {),
+-- treats it as a glob pattern and expands it, returning the first match.
+-- Raises an error if the glob pattern matches no files.
+-- If the path contains no glob metacharacters, just expands ~ and returns the path,
+-- even if the file doesn't exist yet.
+-- This is useful for options like -f and LEDGER_FILE that should:
+-- - accept non-existent files (for commands like add/import that create them)
+-- - expand glob patterns and error if they don't match anything
+expandPathOrGlob :: FilePath -> FilePath -> IO FilePath
+expandPathOrGlob curdir p = do
+  let hasGlobChars = any (`elem` p) ("*?[{" :: [Char])
+  if hasGlobChars
+    then do
+      matches <- expandGlob curdir p `catch` (\(_::IOException) -> return [])
+      case headMay matches of
+        Just f -> return f
+        Nothing -> error' $ "glob pattern \"" <> p <> "\" matched no files"
+    else
+      expandPath curdir p
+
 -- | Given a list of existing file paths, sort them by modification time (from oldest to newest).
 sortByModTime :: [FilePath] -> IO [FilePath]
 sortByModTime fs = do
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
index 511c7cfd2..a90603288 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@ journalFilePathFromOptsNoDefault opts = do
 expandPathPreservingPrefix :: FilePath -> PrefixedFilePath -> IO PrefixedFilePath
 expandPathPreservingPrefix d prefixedf = do
   let (p,f) = splitReaderPrefix prefixedf
-  f' <- expandPath d f
+  f' <- expandPathOrGlob d f
   return $ case p of
     Just p'  -> (show p') ++ ":" ++ f'
     Nothing -> f'