diff --git a/apps/wordcraft-cli/src/main.rs b/apps/wordcraft-cli/src/main.rs
index 446b902fa..78e4bbfa1 100644
--- a/apps/wordcraft-cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/apps/wordcraft-cli/src/main.rs
@@ -471,12 +471,13 @@ fn run<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(args: &[S]) -> Result<(), Failure> {
             }
             let mut s = match (from_file, from_template) {
                 (Some(f), _) => open(&f, password.as_deref())?,
-                (None, Some(t)) => {
+                // Both go through `file.new`, which puts a blank document on the region's paper (#3152).
+                (None, t) => {
                     let mut s = session(wordcraft_doc::Document::new());
-                    s.run("file.new", &json!({"template": t})).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+                    let params = t.map_or_else(|| json!({}), |t| json!({"template": t}));
+                    s.run("file.new", &params).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
                     s
                 }
-                _ => session(wordcraft_doc::Document::new()),
             };
             if let Some(name) = arg_value(&rest, "--author") {
                 set_author(&mut s, &name)?;
diff --git a/apps/wordcraft-cli/tests/convert_region.rs b/apps/wordcraft-cli/tests/convert_region.rs
index 5f9fb4b53..9b3553669 100644
--- a/apps/wordcraft-cli/tests/convert_region.rs
+++ b/apps/wordcraft-cli/tests/convert_region.rs
@@ -40,10 +40,11 @@ fn html_converts_onto_the_region_paper() {
 
 #[test]
 fn every_run_session_follows_the_region() {
-    // `run --file`, `run --template` and a bare `run` all start a session in the system region,
+    // `run --file`, `run --template` and a bare `run` (with or without `file.new`) all start a session in the system region,
     // so `file.new` gives the same paper whichever way the session began.
     for args in [
         &["run", "--cmd", "file.new", "--save", "{out}"][..],
+        &["run", "--cmd", "text.insert={\"text\":\"x\"}", "--save", "{out}"][..],
         &["run", "--template", "blank", "--save", "{out}"][..],
         &["run", "--file", "{src}", "--cmd", "file.new", "--save", "{out}"][..],
     ] {