diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/jupyterSessionManager.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/jupyterSessionManager.ts
index 88e01b4d22..160a1a58ec 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/jupyterSessionManager.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/jupyterSessionManager.ts
@@ -334,6 +334,10 @@ export class JupyterSession implements nb.ISession {
 	private async setEnvironmentVars(skip: boolean = false): Promise<void> {
 		if (!skip && this.sessionImpl) {
 			let allCode: string = '';
+			// Ensure cwd matches notebook path (this follows Jupyter behavior)
+			if (this.path && path.dirname(this.path)) {
+				allCode += `%cd ${path.dirname(this.path)}${EOL}`;
+			}
 			for (let i = 0; i < Object.keys(process.env).length; i++) {
 				let key = Object.keys(process.env)[i];
 				if (key.toLowerCase() === 'path' && this._pythonEnvVarPath) {
@@ -344,7 +348,9 @@ export class JupyterSession implements nb.ISession {
 				}
 			}
 			let future = this.sessionImpl.kernel.requestExecute({
-				code: allCode
+				code: allCode,
+				silent: true,
+				store_history: false
 			}, true);
 			await future.done;
 		}