diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a703a6dfe2..9a06c266b2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 * The default template alias `builtin_log_root(change_id: ChangeId, commit_id: CommitId)` was replaced by `format_root_commit(root: Commit)`.
 
+* Path arguments are now parsed as ["fileset" expressions](docs/filesets.md).
+  File name containing meta characters or whitespace will need to be escaped.
+  Example: `jj diff '"File name with space"'`.
+
 ### New features
 
 * The list of conflicted paths is printed whenever the working copy changes.
diff --git a/cli/src/cli_util.rs b/cli/src/cli_util.rs
index 32cc17c5cb..e7d94d5bf0 100644
--- a/cli/src/cli_util.rs
+++ b/cli/src/cli_util.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ use indexmap::{IndexMap, IndexSet};
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use jj_lib::backend::{ChangeId, CommitId, MergedTreeId, TreeValue};
 use jj_lib::commit::Commit;
-use jj_lib::fileset::{FilePattern, FilesetExpression, FilesetParseContext};
+use jj_lib::fileset::{FilesetExpression, FilesetParseContext};
 use jj_lib::git_backend::GitBackend;
 use jj_lib::gitignore::{GitIgnoreError, GitIgnoreFile};
 use jj_lib::hex_util::to_reverse_hex;
@@ -657,14 +657,7 @@ impl WorkspaceCommandHelper {
         if values.is_empty() {
             Ok(FilesetExpression::all())
         } else {
-            let ctx = self.fileset_parse_context();
-            let expressions = values
-                .iter()
-                .map(|v| FilePattern::parse(&ctx, v))
-                .map_ok(FilesetExpression::pattern)
-                .try_collect()
-                .map_err(user_error)?;
-            Ok(FilesetExpression::union_all(expressions))
+            self.parse_union_filesets(values)
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_global_opts.rs b/cli/tests/test_global_opts.rs
index cf358b9b90..44a814a73f 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_global_opts.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_global_opts.rs
@@ -403,8 +403,16 @@ fn test_color_ui_messages() {
     // error source
     let stderr = test_env.jj_cmd_failure(&repo_path, &["log", ".."]);
     insta::assert_snapshot!(stderr.replace('\\', "/"), @r###"
-    Error: Path ".." is not in the repo "."
-    Caused by: Invalid component ".." in repo-relative path "../"
+    Error: Failed to parse fileset: Invalid file pattern
+    Caused by:
+    1:  --> 1:1
+      |
+    1 | ..
+      | ^^
+      |
+      = Invalid file pattern
+    2: Path ".." is not in the repo "."
+    3: Invalid component ".." in repo-relative path "../"
     "###);
 
     // warning
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_log_command.rs b/cli/tests/test_log_command.rs
index 14dd87ee30..bef3c6d71f 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_log_command.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_log_command.rs
@@ -822,6 +822,17 @@ fn test_log_filtered_by_path() {
     A file2
     "###);
 
+    // empty revision is filtered out by "all()" fileset.
+    let stdout = test_env.jj_cmd_success(&repo_path, &["log", "-Tdescription", "-s", "all()"]);
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stdout, @r###"
+    @  second
+    │  M file1
+    │  A file2
+    ◉  first
+    │  A file1
+    ~
+    "###);
+
     // "root:<path>" is resolved relative to the workspace root.
     let stdout = test_env.jj_cmd_success(
         test_env.env_root(),
diff --git a/docs/filesets.md b/docs/filesets.md
index b9bccaf079..c833c2be8b 100644
--- a/docs/filesets.md
+++ b/docs/filesets.md
@@ -35,3 +35,17 @@ You can also specify patterns by using functions.
 
 * `all()`: Matches everything.
 * `none()`: Matches nothing.
+
+## Examples
+
+Show diff excluding `Cargo.lock`.
+
+```
+jj diff '~Cargo.lock'
+```
+
+Split a revision in two, putting `foo` into the second commit.
+
+```
+jj split '~foo'
+```
diff --git a/lib/src/fileset.rs b/lib/src/fileset.rs
index 31368ae28d..2cef3f50a9 100644
--- a/lib/src/fileset.rs
+++ b/lib/src/fileset.rs
@@ -60,17 +60,6 @@ pub enum FilePattern {
 }
 
 impl FilePattern {
-    /// Parses the given `input` string as a file pattern.
-    // TODO: If we decide to parse any file argument as a fileset expression,
-    // this function can be removed.
-    pub fn parse(ctx: &FilesetParseContext, input: &str) -> Result<Self, FilePatternParseError> {
-        if let Some((kind, pat)) = input.split_once(':') {
-            Self::from_str_kind(ctx, pat, kind)
-        } else {
-            Self::cwd_prefix_path(ctx, input)
-        }
-    }
-
     /// Parses the given `input` string as pattern of the specified `kind`.
     pub fn from_str_kind(
         ctx: &FilesetParseContext,