diff --git a/docs/changelog/210.security.rst b/docs/changelog/210.security.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bce145b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/210.security.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Discovery uses the profile default for empty or relative ``APPDATA`` and skips relative profile paths when finding
+uv-managed Pythons.
diff --git a/docs/explanation.rst b/docs/explanation.rst
index 14ab839..56eaa78 100644
--- a/docs/explanation.rst
+++ b/docs/explanation.rst
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ overrides it; otherwise the store is the ``python`` bucket of uv's state directo
 uv follows the XDG convention on macOS too, and falls back to the legacy directory only when that directory already
 exists. python-discovery searches both, in the same order, so a leftover legacy directory cannot hide the store uv
 installs into. A relative ``XDG_DATA_HOME`` does not count, as the XDG specification requires, and Windows ignores it
-outright. Every one of these variables comes from the ``env`` mapping passed to
+outright. An empty or relative ``APPDATA`` uses the profile default, and discovery skips any relative store root.
+Every one of these variables comes from the ``env`` mapping passed to
 :func:`~python_discovery.get_interpreter`, rather than from the process environment.
 
 Each install lives in its own subdirectory, but the actual binary location varies by OS and implementation:
diff --git a/src/python_discovery/_discovery.py b/src/python_discovery/_discovery.py
index 99fbb59..61abd70 100644
--- a/src/python_discovery/_discovery.py
+++ b/src/python_discovery/_discovery.py
@@ -288,7 +288,8 @@ def _uv_python_roots(env: Mapping[str, str]) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
         yield Path(install_dir).expanduser()
         return
     for state_dir in _uv_state_dirs(env):
-        yield state_dir / "python"
+        if state_dir.is_absolute():  # a relative profile path would search the caller's working directory
+            yield state_dir / "python"
 
 
 def _uv_state_dirs(env: Mapping[str, str]) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
@@ -296,7 +297,10 @@ def _uv_state_dirs(env: Mapping[str, str]) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
     windows = sys.platform == "win32"
     home = Path(env.get("USERPROFILE" if windows else "HOME") or "~").expanduser()
     if windows:
-        app_data = Path(env["APPDATA"]) if "APPDATA" in env else home / "AppData" / "Roaming"
+        default_app_data = home / "AppData" / "Roaming"
+        app_data = Path(env.get("APPDATA") or default_app_data)
+        if not app_data.is_absolute():
+            app_data = default_app_data
         yield app_data / "uv" / "data"
         yield app_data / "uv"
         return
diff --git a/tests/test_discovery.py b/tests/test_discovery.py
index 73d6f84..cfcb51b 100644
--- a/tests/test_discovery.py
+++ b/tests/test_discovery.py
@@ -638,6 +638,57 @@ def test_discovery_uv_store_roots_per_platform(
     assert uv_probed() == executables
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("appdata", "store"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("", "uv/data", id="empty"),
+        pytest.param("relative", "relative/uv/data", id="relative"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_discovery_uv_store_invalid_appdata_uses_profile_default(
+    uv_home: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+    uv_plant: Callable[[Path], str],
+    uv_probed: Callable[..., list[str]],
+    appdata: str,
+    store: str,
+) -> None:
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "platform", "win32")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("APPDATA", appdata)
+    (checkout := uv_home / "checkout").mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.chdir(checkout)
+    uv_plant(checkout / store / "python")
+    profile_executable = uv_plant(uv_home / "AppData" / "Roaming" / "uv" / "data" / "python")
+
+    assert uv_probed() == [profile_executable]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("platform", "profile_var", "store"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("win32", "USERPROFILE", "relative/AppData/Roaming/uv/data", id="windows"),
+        pytest.param("linux", "HOME", "relative/.local/share/uv", id="linux"),
+        pytest.param("darwin", "HOME", "relative/Library/Application Support/uv", id="macos"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_discovery_uv_store_skips_relative_profile(
+    uv_home: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+    uv_plant: Callable[[Path], str],
+    uv_probed: Callable[..., list[str]],
+    platform: str,
+    profile_var: str,
+    store: str,
+) -> None:
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "platform", platform)
+    monkeypatch.setenv(profile_var, "relative")
+    (checkout := uv_home / "checkout").mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.chdir(checkout)
+    uv_plant(checkout / store / "python")
+
+    assert uv_probed() == []
+
+
 def test_discovery_uv_store_windows_ignores_xdg_data_home(
     uv_home: Path,
     monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,