diff --git a/core/src/program.rs b/core/src/program.rs
index 10d8d7d785..7b3322f242 100644
--- a/core/src/program.rs
+++ b/core/src/program.rs
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ impl QueryPath {
     /// Identifiers can be enclosed by double quotes when they contain characters that aren't
     /// allowed inside bare identifiers. The accepted grammar is the same as a sequence of record
     /// accesses in Nickel, although string interpolation is forbidden.
+    ///
+    /// # Post-conditions
+    ///
+    /// If this function succeeds and returns `Ok(query_path)`, then `query_path.0` is non empty.
+    /// Indeed, there's no such thing as a valid empty field path. If `input` is empty, or consists
+    /// only of spaces, `parse` returns a parse error.
     pub fn parse(cache: &mut Cache, input: String) -> Result<Self, ParseError> {
         use crate::parser::{
             grammar::FieldPathParser, lexer::Lexer, utils::FieldPathElem, ErrorTolerantParser,
diff --git a/core/src/repl/command.rs b/core/src/repl/command.rs
index 03465e6a6c..ce3b0ac8b7 100644
--- a/core/src/repl/command.rs
+++ b/core/src/repl/command.rs
@@ -25,10 +25,7 @@ impl CommandType {
 pub enum Command {
     Load(OsString),
     Typecheck(String),
-    Query {
-        target: String,
-        path: Option<String>,
-    },
+    Query(String),
     Print(String),
     Help(Option<String>),
     Exit,
@@ -130,22 +127,7 @@ impl FromStr for Command {
             }
             CommandType::Query => {
                 require_arg(cmd, &arg, None)?;
-                let mut args_iter = arg.chars();
-
-                let first_arg = args_iter.by_ref().take_while(|c| *c != ' ').collect();
-                let rest = args_iter.collect::<String>();
-                let rest = rest.trim();
-
-                let path = if !rest.is_empty() {
-                    Some(String::from(rest))
-                } else {
-                    None
-                };
-
-                Ok(Command::Query {
-                    target: first_arg,
-                    path,
-                })
+                Ok(Command::Query(arg))
             }
             CommandType::Print => {
                 require_arg(cmd, &arg, None)?;
diff --git a/core/src/repl/mod.rs b/core/src/repl/mod.rs
index 10c9871087..4889088901 100644
--- a/core/src/repl/mod.rs
+++ b/core/src/repl/mod.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ pub trait Repl {
     /// Typecheck an expression and return its [apparent type][crate::typecheck::ApparentType].
     fn typecheck(&mut self, exp: &str) -> Result<Types, Error>;
     /// Query the metadata of an expression.
-    fn query(&mut self, target: String, path: Option<String>) -> Result<Field, Error>;
+    fn query(&mut self, path: String) -> Result<Field, Error>;
     /// Required for error reporting on the frontend.
     fn cache_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Cache;
 }
@@ -285,15 +285,21 @@ impl<EC: EvalCache> Repl for ReplImpl<EC> {
         .into())
     }
 
-    fn query(&mut self, target: String, path: Option<String>) -> Result<Field, Error> {
+    fn query(&mut self, path: String) -> Result<Field, Error> {
         use crate::program;
 
+        let mut query_path = QueryPath::parse(self.vm.import_resolver_mut(), path)?;
+
+        // remove(): this is safe because there is no such thing as an empty field path. If `path`
+        // is empty, the parser will error out. Hence, `QueryPath::parse` always returns a non-empty
+        // vector.
+        let target = query_path.0.remove(0);
+
         let file_id = self
             .vm
             .import_resolver_mut()
-            .replace_string("<repl-query>", target);
+            .replace_string("<repl-query>", target.label().into());
 
-        let query_path = QueryPath::parse_opt(self.vm.import_resolver_mut(), path)?;
         program::query(&mut self.vm, file_id, &self.env, query_path)
     }
 
@@ -415,15 +421,18 @@ pub fn print_help(out: &mut impl Write, arg: Option<&str>) -> std::io::Result<()
                 )?;
             }
             Ok(c @ CommandType::Query) => {
-                writeln!(out, ":{c} <identifier> [field path]")?;
+                writeln!(out, ":{c} <field path>")?;
                 print_aliases(out, c)?;
                 writeln!(out, "Print the metadata attached to a field")?;
                 writeln!(
                     out,
-                    "<identifier> is valid Nickel identifier representing the record to look into."
+                    "<field path> is a dot-separated sequence of identifiers pointing to a field. \
+                    Fields can be quoted if they contain special characters, \
+                    just like in normal Nickel source code.\n"
                 )?;
-                writeln!(out, "<field path> is a dot-separated sequence of identifiers pointing to a field.\n")?;
-                writeln!(out, "Example: `:{c} mylib contracts.\"special#chars\".bar`")?;
+                writeln!(out, "Examples:")?;
+                writeln!(out, "- `:{c} std.array.any`")?;
+                writeln!(out, "- `:{c} mylib.contracts.\"special#chars.\".bar`")?;
             }
             Ok(c @ CommandType::Load) => {
                 writeln!(out, ":{c} <file>")?;
diff --git a/core/src/repl/rustyline_frontend.rs b/core/src/repl/rustyline_frontend.rs
index aeb5bf97b2..ef7cf0a562 100644
--- a/core/src/repl/rustyline_frontend.rs
+++ b/core/src/repl/rustyline_frontend.rs
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ pub fn repl(histfile: PathBuf, color_opt: ColorOpt) -> Result<(), InitError> {
                     Ok(Command::Typecheck(exp)) => {
                         repl.typecheck(&exp).map(|types| println!("Ok: {types}"))
                     }
-                    Ok(Command::Query {target, path}) => repl.query(target, path).map(|field| {
+                    Ok(Command::Query(path)) => repl.query(path).map(|field| {
                         query_print::write_query_result(
                             &mut stdout,
                             &field,
diff --git a/core/src/repl/simple_frontend.rs b/core/src/repl/simple_frontend.rs
index e32bcf91c1..331d8ef98e 100644
--- a/core/src/repl/simple_frontend.rs
+++ b/core/src/repl/simple_frontend.rs
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ pub fn input<R: Repl>(repl: &mut R, line: &str) -> Result<InputResult, InputErro
                 .typecheck(&exp)
                 .map(|types| InputResult::Success(format!("Ok: {types}")))
                 .map_err(InputError::from),
-            Ok(Command::Query { target, path }) => repl
-                .query(target, path)
+            Ok(Command::Query(path)) => repl
+                .query(path)
                 .map(|t| {
                     let mut buffer = Cursor::new(Vec::<u8>::new());
                     query_print::write_query_result(