diff --git a/go/forgekey/runner.go b/go/forgekey/runner.go
index 14bba8a..422e868 100644
--- a/go/forgekey/runner.go
+++ b/go/forgekey/runner.go
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ func ExecRunnerFor(bound time.Duration) Runner {
 
 // ExecRunnerClean is ExecRunnerFor whose commands get exactly the env argument as their environment, and nothing of
 // this process's (issue 1497; novox/hq ADR 0466 §4: no registry password in a fetch's environment). The caller
-// gives PATH and HOME itself. A directory is the command's own business (`git -C`, `go -C`).
+// gives PATH and HOME itself. A directory is the command's own business (`git -C`, `go -C`): it is started in the HOME
+// it is given, or the machine's temporary directory, never in this process's (stableDir).
 func ExecRunnerClean(bound time.Duration) Runner {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, env []string, name string, args ...string) Ran {
 		return execRun(ctx, bound, true, env, name, args...)
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ func execRun(ctx context.Context, bound time.Duration, clean bool, env []string,
 	} else {
 		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), env...)
 	}
+	cmd.Dir = stableDir(clean, env)
 	var out, errb bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout, cmd.Stderr = &out, &errb
 	err := cmd.Run()
@@ -83,6 +85,29 @@ func execRun(ctx context.Context, bound time.Duration, clean bool, env []string,
 	return r
 }
 
+// stableDir is the directory a command starts in when it names none (novox/hq issue 734). **Never one that may be
+// deleted under it**: a module runs in the directory its build was unpacked in, which a new build replaces, and a
+// command started there inherits it — `go version` then fails "getwd: no such file or directory" before it reads
+// anything. A clean command starts in the HOME it is given, or the temporary directory; any other keeps this
+// process's directory while it exists, and starts in the temporary directory once it is gone. "" is this process's.
+func stableDir(clean bool, env []string) string {
+	if !clean {
+		if _, err := os.Getwd(); err == nil {
+			return ""
+		}
+		return os.TempDir()
+	}
+	for i := len(env) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+		if home, ok := strings.CutPrefix(env[i], "HOME="); ok {
+			if info, err := os.Stat(home); err == nil && info.IsDir() {
+				return home
+			}
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	return os.TempDir()
+}
+
 func firstLine(s string) string {
 	for _, l := range strings.Split(s, "\n") {
 		if l = strings.TrimSpace(l); l != "" {
diff --git a/go/forgekey/runner_test.go b/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
index 13f3669..2dc09b4 100644
--- a/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
+++ b/go/forgekey/runner_test.go
@@ -48,13 +48,29 @@ func TestExecRunnerForZeroIsCutByItsContext(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// 1497/AC4: ExecRunnerClean(0) runs env with only the given words: PATH and HOME, not the process's secret.
+// 1497/AC4: ExecRunnerClean(0) runs env with only the given words: PATH and HOME, not the process's secret. And issue
+// 734: run from a process whose own directory was deleted under it (a module whose build a new one replaced), a clean
+// command starts in its HOME, and any other in the temporary directory, rather than failing to find where it is.
 func TestExecRunnerCleanGivesTheCommandOnlyTheEnvArgument(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Setenv("MESH_TEST_SECRET", "x")
 	r := ExecRunnerClean(0)(context.Background(), []string{"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"), "HOME=/h"}, "env")
 	if r.Status != 0 || !strings.Contains(r.Stdout, "HOME=/h") || !strings.Contains(r.Stdout, "PATH=") || strings.Contains(r.Stdout, "MESH_TEST_SECRET") {
 		t.Errorf("ran = %+v", r)
 	}
+
+	home, gone := t.TempDir(), t.TempDir()
+	t.Chdir(gone)
+	if err := os.Remove(gone); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	r = ExecRunnerClean(0)(context.Background(), []string{"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"), "HOME=" + home}, "pwd")
+	if r.Status != 0 || strings.TrimSpace(r.Stdout) != home {
+		t.Errorf("a clean command run from a deleted directory = %+v, want it started in its HOME %s", r, home)
+	}
+	r = ExecRunnerFor(0)(context.Background(), nil, "pwd")
+	if r.Status != 0 || strings.TrimSpace(r.Stdout) != os.TempDir() {
+		t.Errorf("a command run from a deleted directory = %+v, want it started in %s", r, os.TempDir())
+	}
 }
 
 // 1497/AC5: ExecRunnerFor(0) is unchanged: the env argument is added to the process's environment.