diff --git a/src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Bundling/ChangelogBundlingService.cs b/src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Bundling/ChangelogBundlingService.cs
index c72ca461c..73cb06ffa 100644
--- a/src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Bundling/ChangelogBundlingService.cs
+++ b/src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Bundling/ChangelogBundlingService.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ namespace Elastic.Changelog.Bundling;
 /// </summary>
 public record BundleChangelogsArguments
 {
-	public required string Directory { get; init; }
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Directory containing changelog YAML files. null = use config default.
+	/// </summary>
+	public string? Directory { get; init; }
 	public string? Output { get; init; }
 	public bool All { get; init; }
 	public IReadOnlyList<ProductArgument>? InputProducts { get; init; }
@@ -137,16 +140,19 @@ public async Task<bool> BundleChangelogs(IDiagnosticsCollector collector, Bundle
 				issuesToMatch = issueFilterResult.IssuesToMatch;
 			}
 
+			// Directory is resolved by ApplyConfigDefaults (never null at this point)
+			var directory = input.Directory!;
+
 			// Determine output path
-			var outputPath = input.Output ?? _fileSystem.Path.Combine(input.Directory, "changelog-bundle.yaml");
+			var outputPath = input.Output ?? _fileSystem.Path.Combine(directory, "changelog-bundle.yaml");
 
 			// Discover changelog files
 			var fileDiscovery = new ChangelogFileDiscovery(_fileSystem, _logger);
-			var yamlFiles = await fileDiscovery.DiscoverChangelogFilesAsync(input.Directory, outputPath, ctx);
+			var yamlFiles = await fileDiscovery.DiscoverChangelogFilesAsync(directory, outputPath, ctx);
 
 			if (yamlFiles.Count == 0)
 			{
-				collector.EmitError(input.Directory, "No YAML files found in directory");
+				collector.EmitError(directory, "No YAML files found in directory");
 				return false;
 			}
 
@@ -269,7 +275,7 @@ public async Task<bool> BundleChangelogs(IDiagnosticsCollector collector, Bundle
 		string? outputPath = null;
 		if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(outputPattern))
 		{
-			var outputDir = config.Bundle.OutputDirectory ?? input.OutputDirectory ?? input.Directory;
+			var outputDir = config.Bundle.OutputDirectory ?? input.OutputDirectory ?? input.Directory ?? _fileSystem.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
 			outputPath = _fileSystem.Path.Combine(outputDir, outputPattern);
 		}
 
@@ -324,16 +330,11 @@ private static List<ProductArgument> ParseProfileProducts(string pattern)
 
 	private static BundleChangelogsArguments ApplyConfigDefaults(BundleChangelogsArguments input, ChangelogConfiguration? config)
 	{
-		if (config?.Bundle == null)
-			return input;
+		// Apply directory: CLI takes precedence. Only use config when --directory not specified.
+		var directory = input.Directory ?? config?.Bundle?.Directory ?? Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
 
-		// Apply directory default if not specified
-		var directory = input.Directory;
-		if ((string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(directory) || directory == Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
-			&& !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(config.Bundle.Directory))
-		{
-			directory = config.Bundle.Directory;
-		}
+		if (config?.Bundle == null)
+			return input with { Directory = directory };
 
 		// Apply output default when --output not specified: use bundle.output_directory if set
 		var output = input.Output;
diff --git a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Commands/ChangelogCommand.cs b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Commands/ChangelogCommand.cs
index 7329b9651..4c961ca77 100644
--- a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Commands/ChangelogCommand.cs
+++ b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Commands/ChangelogCommand.cs
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ public async Task<int> Bundle(
 
 		var input = new BundleChangelogsArguments
 		{
-			Directory = directory ?? Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(),
+			Directory = directory,
 			Output = processedOutput,
 			All = all,
 			InputProducts = inputProducts,
diff --git a/tests/Elastic.Changelog.Tests/Changelogs/BundleChangelogsTests.cs b/tests/Elastic.Changelog.Tests/Changelogs/BundleChangelogsTests.cs
index 701091d6f..6fa23d772 100644
--- a/tests/Elastic.Changelog.Tests/Changelogs/BundleChangelogsTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Elastic.Changelog.Tests/Changelogs/BundleChangelogsTests.cs
@@ -2079,11 +2079,10 @@ public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithConfigOutputDirectory_WhenOutputNotSpecif
 	}
 
 	[Fact]
-	public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithConfigDirectory_WhenDirectoryIsCurrentDirectory_UsesConfigDirectory()
+	public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithConfigDirectory_WhenDirectoryNotSpecified_UsesConfigDirectory()
 	{
-		// Arrange - When --directory is not specified (current directory), use bundle.directory from config if set
+		// Arrange - When --directory is not specified (null), use bundle.directory from config if set
 
-		var currentDir = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
 		var outputDir = FileSystem.Path.Combine(FileSystem.Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
 		FileSystem.Directory.CreateDirectory(outputDir);
 
@@ -2116,13 +2115,13 @@ public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithConfigDirectory_WhenDirectoryIsCurrentDir
 
 		var input = new BundleChangelogsArguments
 		{
-			Directory = currentDir,
+			Directory = null,
 			Config = configPath,
 			Output = null,
 			All = true
 		};
 
-		// Act - Directory equals GetCurrentDirectory(), so ApplyConfigDefaults should use config.Bundle.Directory
+		// Act - Directory not specified, so ApplyConfigDefaults uses config.Bundle.Directory
 		var result = await ServiceWithConfig.BundleChangelogs(Collector, input, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
 
 		// Assert
@@ -2137,6 +2136,64 @@ public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithConfigDirectory_WhenDirectoryIsCurrentDir
 		bundleContent.Should().Contain("name: 1755268130-feature.yaml");
 	}
 
+	[Fact]
+	public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithExplicitDirectory_OverridesConfigDirectory()
+	{
+		// Arrange - config has directory pointing elsewhere, but CLI passes --directory explicitly.
+		// The explicit CLI value must win (e.g. --directory . when cwd has changelogs).
+
+		var configDir = FileSystem.Path.Combine(FileSystem.Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
+		FileSystem.Directory.CreateDirectory(configDir);
+		var outputDir = FileSystem.Path.Combine(FileSystem.Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
+		FileSystem.Directory.CreateDirectory(outputDir);
+
+		// language=yaml
+		var configContent =
+			$"""
+			bundle:
+			  directory: "{configDir.Replace("\\", "/")}"
+			  output_directory: "{outputDir.Replace("\\", "/")}"
+			""";
+
+		var configPath = FileSystem.Path.Combine(FileSystem.Path.GetTempPath(), "config-dir-override", "changelog.yml");
+		FileSystem.Directory.CreateDirectory(FileSystem.Path.GetDirectoryName(configPath)!);
+		await FileSystem.File.WriteAllTextAsync(configPath, configContent, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
+
+		// language=yaml
+		var changelog1 =
+			"""
+			title: Test feature
+			type: feature
+			products:
+			  - product: elasticsearch
+			    target: 9.2.0
+			prs:
+			  - https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/100
+			""";
+
+		var file1 = FileSystem.Path.Combine(_changelogDir, "1755268130-feature.yaml");
+		await FileSystem.File.WriteAllTextAsync(file1, changelog1, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
+
+		var input = new BundleChangelogsArguments
+		{
+			Directory = _changelogDir,
+			Config = configPath,
+			Output = FileSystem.Path.Combine(outputDir, "bundle.yaml"),
+			All = true
+		};
+
+		// Act - Explicit Directory overrides config.Bundle.Directory
+		var result = await ServiceWithConfig.BundleChangelogs(Collector, input, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
+
+		// Assert - used _changelogDir (CLI), not configDir (config)
+		result.Should().BeTrue($"Expected bundling to succeed. Errors: {string.Join("; ", Collector.Diagnostics.Where(d => d.Severity == Severity.Error).Select(d => d.Message))}");
+		Collector.Errors.Should().Be(0);
+
+		var bundleContent = await FileSystem.File.ReadAllTextAsync(input.Output, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
+		bundleContent.Should().Contain("product: elasticsearch");
+		bundleContent.Should().Contain("name: 1755268130-feature.yaml");
+	}
+
 	[Fact]
 	public async Task BundleChangelogs_WithProfileHideFeatures_IncludesHideFeaturesInBundle()
 	{