diff --git a/base/file.jl b/base/file.jl
index 81bca9dd65577..b82665dfdbfba 100644
--- a/base/file.jl
+++ b/base/file.jl
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@ function _readdir(dir::AbstractString; return_objects::Bool=false, join::Bool=fa
 end
 
 """
-    walkdir(dir; topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
+    walkdir(dir = pwd(); topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
 
 Return an iterator that walks the directory tree of a directory.
 
@@ -1107,6 +1107,9 @@ resume where the last left off, like [`Iterators.Stateful`](@ref).
 
 See also: [`readdir`](@ref).
 
+!!! compat "Julia 1.12"
+    `pwd()` as the default directory was added in Julia 1.12.
+
 # Examples
 ```julia
 for (path, dirs, files) in walkdir(".")
@@ -1136,7 +1139,7 @@ julia> (path, dirs, files) = first(itr)
 ("my/test/dir", String[], String[])
 ```
 """
-function walkdir(path; topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
+function walkdir(path = pwd(); topdown=true, follow_symlinks=false, onerror=throw)
     function _walkdir(chnl, path)
         tryf(f, p) = try
                 f(p)
diff --git a/test/file.jl b/test/file.jl
index 005c765e08b90..2b10ca7b7950e 100644
--- a/test/file.jl
+++ b/test/file.jl
@@ -1431,6 +1431,13 @@ cd(dirwalk) do
         @test dirs == []
         @test files == ["foo"]
     end
+
+    # pwd() as default directory
+    for ((r1, d1, f1), (r2, d2, f2)) in zip(walkdir(), walkdir(pwd()))
+        @test r1 == r2
+        @test d1 == d2
+        @test f1 == f2
+    end
 end
 rm(dirwalk, recursive=true)