diff --git a/cmd/nvidia-ctk/cdi/generate/generate.go b/cmd/nvidia-ctk/cdi/generate/generate.go
index 008145ad..c235c90f 100644
--- a/cmd/nvidia-ctk/cdi/generate/generate.go
+++ b/cmd/nvidia-ctk/cdi/generate/generate.go
@@ -167,15 +167,7 @@ func (m command) run(c *cli.Context, cfg *config) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	path := cfg.output
-	if filepath.Clean(filepath.Dir(path)) == "." {
-		pwd, err := os.Getwd()
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get current working directory: %v", err)
-		}
-		path = filepath.Join(pwd, path)
-	}
-	return spec.Save(path)
+	return spec.Save(cfg.output)
 }
 
 func formatFromFilename(filename string) string {
diff --git a/pkg/nvcdi/spec/spec.go b/pkg/nvcdi/spec/spec.go
index c0e96946..2bb26a71 100644
--- a/pkg/nvcdi/spec/spec.go
+++ b/pkg/nvcdi/spec/spec.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -39,7 +40,10 @@ func New(opts ...Option) (Interface, error) {
 
 // Save writes the spec to the specified path and overwrites the file if it exists.
 func (s *spec) Save(path string) error {
-	path = s.normalizePath(path)
+	path, err := s.normalizePath(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to normalize path: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	specDir := filepath.Dir(path)
 	registry := cdi.GetRegistry(
@@ -57,7 +61,7 @@ func (s *spec) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
-	path := s.normalizePath(name)
+	path, _ := s.normalizePath(name)
 	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "*"+filepath.Base(path))
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
@@ -88,12 +92,20 @@ func (s *spec) Raw() *specs.Spec {
 }
 
 // normalizePath ensures that the specified path has a supported extension
-func (s *spec) normalizePath(path string) string {
+func (s *spec) normalizePath(path string) (string, error) {
 	if ext := filepath.Ext(path); ext != ".yaml" && ext != ".json" {
 		path += s.extension()
 	}
 
-	return path
+	if filepath.Clean(filepath.Dir(path)) == "." {
+		pwd, err := os.Getwd()
+		if err != nil {
+			return path, fmt.Errorf("failed to get current working directory: %v", err)
+		}
+		path = filepath.Join(pwd, path)
+	}
+
+	return path, nil
 }
 
 func (s *spec) extension() string {