diff --git a/lib/git/lib.rb b/lib/git/lib.rb
index 777e42ea..00cc0e72 100644
--- a/lib/git/lib.rb
+++ b/lib/git/lib.rb
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ def diff_index(treeish)
     end
 
     def ls_files(location=nil)
+      location ||= '.'
       hsh = {}
       command_lines('ls-files', ['--stage', location]).each do |line|
         (info, file) = line.split("\t")