diff --git a/packages/create-vite/README.md b/packages/create-vite/README.md
index e22c268ab99f9c..7c753d212bd302 100644
--- a/packages/create-vite/README.md
+++ b/packages/create-vite/README.md
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ Currently supported template presets include:
 - `svelte`
 - `svelte-ts`
 
+You can use `.` for the project name to scaffold in the current directory.
+
 ## Community Templates
 
 create-vite is a tool to quickly start a project from a basic template for popular frameworks. Check out Awesome Vite for [community maintained templates](https://github.com/vitejs/awesome-vite#templates) that include other tools or target different frameworks. You can use a tool like [degit](https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit) to scaffold your project with one of the templates.
diff --git a/packages/create-vite/__tests__/cli.spec.ts b/packages/create-vite/__tests__/cli.spec.ts
index d9b6bafdefa306..f9172aeece98d2 100644
--- a/packages/create-vite/__tests__/cli.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/create-vite/__tests__/cli.spec.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ test('prompts for the project name if none supplied', () => {
   expect(stdout).toContain('Project name:')
 })
 
+test('prompts for the framework if none supplied when target dir is current directory', () => {
+  mkdirpSync(genPath)
+  const { stdout } = run(['.'], { cwd: genPath })
+  expect(stdout).toContain('Select a framework:')
+})
+
 test('prompts for the framework if none supplied', () => {
   const { stdout } = run([projectName])
   expect(stdout).toContain('Select a framework:')
@@ -65,7 +71,7 @@ test('asks to overwrite non-empty target directory', () => {
 
 test('asks to overwrite non-empty current directory', () => {
   createNonEmptyDir()
-  const { stdout } = run(['.'], { cwd: genPath, input: 'test-app\n' })
+  const { stdout } = run(['.'], { cwd: genPath })
   expect(stdout).toContain(`Current directory is not empty.`)
 })
 
diff --git a/packages/create-vite/index.js b/packages/create-vite/index.js
index 93ddb3c3f027a1..ec084e8327d603 100755
--- a/packages/create-vite/index.js
+++ b/packages/create-vite/index.js
@@ -130,12 +130,12 @@ const renameFiles = {
 }
 
 async function init() {
-  let targetDir = argv._[0]
+  let targetDir = formatTargetDir(argv._[0])
   let template = argv.template || argv.t
 
-  const defaultProjectName = !targetDir
-    ? 'vite-project'
-    : targetDir.trim().replace(/\/+$/g, '')
+  const defaultTargetDir = 'vite-project'
+  const getProjectName = () =>
+    targetDir === '.' ? path.basename(path.resolve()) : targetDir
 
   let result = {}
 
@@ -146,10 +146,10 @@ async function init() {
           type: targetDir ? null : 'text',
           name: 'projectName',
           message: reset('Project name:'),
-          initial: defaultProjectName,
-          onState: (state) =>
-            (targetDir =
-              state.value.trim().replace(/\/+$/g, '') || defaultProjectName)
+          initial: defaultTargetDir,
+          onState: (state) => {
+            targetDir = formatTargetDir(state.value) || defaultTargetDir
+          }
         },
         {
           type: () =>
@@ -171,10 +171,10 @@ async function init() {
           name: 'overwriteChecker'
         },
         {
-          type: () => (isValidPackageName(targetDir) ? null : 'text'),
+          type: () => (isValidPackageName(getProjectName()) ? null : 'text'),
           name: 'packageName',
           message: reset('Package name:'),
-          initial: () => toValidPackageName(targetDir),
+          initial: () => toValidPackageName(getProjectName()),
           validate: (dir) =>
             isValidPackageName(dir) || 'Invalid package.json name'
         },
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ async function init() {
     fs.readFileSync(path.join(templateDir, `package.json`), 'utf-8')
   )
 
-  pkg.name = packageName || targetDir
+  pkg.name = packageName || getProjectName()
 
   write('package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2))
 
@@ -289,6 +289,13 @@ async function init() {
   console.log()
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param {string | undefined} targetDir
+ */
+function formatTargetDir(targetDir) {
+  return targetDir?.trim().replace(/\/+$/g, '')
+}
+
 function copy(src, dest) {
   const stat = fs.statSync(src)
   if (stat.isDirectory()) {