diff --git a/scripts/gen_help_html.lua b/scripts/gen_help_html.lua
index 7f84a4d54d..5575de5b36 100644
--- a/scripts/gen_help_html.lua
+++ b/scripts/gen_help_html.lua
@@ -1089,7 +1089,7 @@ end
 --- @returns info dict
 function M.gen(help_dir, to_dir, include, commit, parser_path)
   vim.validate{
-    help_dir={help_dir, function(d) return vim.fn.isdirectory(d) == 1 end, 'valid directory'},
+    help_dir={help_dir, function(d) return vim.fn.isdirectory(vim.fn.expand(d)) == 1 end, 'valid directory'},
     to_dir={to_dir, 's'},
     include={include, 't', true},
     commit={commit, 's', true},
@@ -1098,8 +1098,9 @@ function M.gen(help_dir, to_dir, include, commit, parser_path)
 
   local err_count = 0
   ensure_runtimepath()
-  tagmap = get_helptags(help_dir)
+  tagmap = get_helptags(vim.fn.expand(help_dir))
   helpfiles = get_helpfiles(include)
+  to_dir = vim.fn.expand(to_dir)
   parser_path = parser_path and vim.fn.expand(parser_path) or nil
 
   print(('output dir: %s'):format(to_dir))
@@ -1134,14 +1135,14 @@ end
 -- @returns results dict
 function M.validate(help_dir, include, parser_path)
   vim.validate{
-    help_dir={help_dir, function(d) return vim.fn.isdirectory(d) == 1 end, 'valid directory'},
+    help_dir={help_dir, function(d) return vim.fn.isdirectory(vim.fn.expand(d)) == 1 end, 'valid directory'},
     include={include, 't', true},
     parser_path={parser_path, function(f) return f == nil or vim.fn.filereadable(vim.fn.expand(f)) == 1 end, 'valid vimdoc.{so,dll} filepath'},
   }
   local err_count = 0
   local files_to_errors = {}
   ensure_runtimepath()
-  tagmap = get_helptags(help_dir)
+  tagmap = get_helptags(vim.fn.expand(help_dir))
   helpfiles = get_helpfiles(include)
   parser_path = parser_path and vim.fn.expand(parser_path) or nil