diff --git a/src/pycalver/__main__.py b/src/pycalver/__main__.py
index 13d9e64..92e3f3d 100755
--- a/src/pycalver/__main__.py
+++ b/src/pycalver/__main__.py
@@ -190,11 +190,11 @@ def init(verbose: int = 0, dry: bool = False) -> None:
     config.write_content(ctx)
 
 
-def _assert_not_dirty(vcs, filepaths: typ.Set[str], allow_dirty: bool):
-    dirty_files = vcs.status()
+def _assert_not_dirty(_vcs: vcs.VCS, filepaths: typ.Set[str], allow_dirty: bool):
+    dirty_files = _vcs.status(required_files=filepaths)
 
     if dirty_files:
-        log.warning(f"{vcs.name} working directory is not clean:")
+        log.warning(f"{_vcs.name} working directory is not clean. Uncomitted file(s):")
         for dirty_file in dirty_files:
             log.warning("    " + dirty_file)
 
diff --git a/src/pycalver/vcs.py b/src/pycalver/vcs.py
index 8880252..f5c9e3a 100644
--- a/src/pycalver/vcs.py
+++ b/src/pycalver/vcs.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ VCS_SUBCOMMANDS_BY_NAME = {
         'is_usable'   : "hg root",
         'fetch'       : "hg pull",
         'ls_tags'     : "hg tags",
-        'status'      : "hg status -mard",
+        'status'      : "hg status -umard",
         'add_path'    : "hg add {path}",
         'commit'      : "hg commit --logfile {path}",
         'tag'         : "hg tag {tag} --message {tag}",
@@ -109,13 +109,15 @@ class VCS:
         if self.has_remote:
             self('fetch')
 
-    def status(self) -> typ.List[str]:
+    def status(self, required_files: typ.Set[str]) -> typ.List[str]:
         """Get status lines."""
         status_output = self('status')
+        status_items = [line.split(" ", 1) for line in status_output.splitlines()]
+
         return [
-            line[2:].strip()
-            for line in status_output.splitlines()
-            if not line.strip().startswith("??")
+            filepath.strip()
+            for status, filepath in status_items
+            if filepath.strip() in required_files or status != "??"
         ]
 
     def ls_tags(self) -> typ.List[str]:
@@ -142,7 +144,8 @@ class VCS:
         tmp_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile("wb", delete=False)
         assert " " not in tmp_file.name
 
-        fh                 : typ.IO[bytes]
+        fh: typ.IO[bytes]
+
         with tmp_file as fh:
             fh.write(message_data)
 
diff --git a/test/test_cli.py b/test/test_cli.py
index 7e945af..16cbea5 100644
--- a/test/test_cli.py
+++ b/test/test_cli.py
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ def test_novcs_pyproject_init(runner):
 
 
 def _vcs_init(vcs):
+    assert vcs in ("git", "hg")
     assert not pl.Path(f".{vcs}").exists()
     sh(f"{vcs}", "init")
     assert pl.Path(f".{vcs}").is_dir()
@@ -392,6 +393,9 @@ def test_git_bump(runner):
     result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['init', "--verbose"])
     assert result.exit_code == 0
 
+    sh("git", "add", "pycalver.toml")
+    sh("git", "commit", "-m", "initial commit")
+
     result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['bump', "--verbose"])
     assert result.exit_code == 0
 
@@ -409,6 +413,9 @@ def test_hg_bump(runner):
     result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['init', "--verbose"])
     assert result.exit_code == 0
 
+    sh("hg", "add", "pycalver.toml")
+    sh("hg", "commit", "-m", "initial commit")
+
     result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['bump', "--verbose"])
     assert result.exit_code == 0
 
@@ -417,3 +424,45 @@ def test_hg_bump(runner):
     with pl.Path("README.md").open() as fh:
         content = fh.read()
         assert calver + ".0002-alpha !\n" in content
+
+
+def test_empty_git_bump(runner, caplog):
+    sh("git", "init")
+    with pl.Path("setup.cfg").open(mode="w") as fh:
+        fh.write("")
+    result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['init', "--verbose"])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    with pl.Path("setup.cfg").open(mode="r") as fh:
+        default_cfg_data = fh.read()
+
+    assert "[pycalver]\n" in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\ncurrent_version = " in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\n[pycalver:file_patterns]\n" in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\nsetup.cfg =\n" in default_cfg_data
+
+    result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['bump'])
+
+    assert any(("working directory is not clean" in r.message) for r in caplog.records)
+    assert any(("setup.cfg" in r.message) for r in caplog.records)
+
+
+def test_empty_hg_bump(runner, caplog):
+    sh("hg", "init")
+    with pl.Path("setup.cfg").open(mode="w") as fh:
+        fh.write("")
+    result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['init', "--verbose"])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    with pl.Path("setup.cfg").open(mode="r") as fh:
+        default_cfg_data = fh.read()
+
+    assert "[pycalver]\n" in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\ncurrent_version = " in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\n[pycalver:file_patterns]\n" in default_cfg_data
+    assert "\nsetup.cfg =\n" in default_cfg_data
+
+    result = runner.invoke(pycalver.cli, ['bump'])
+
+    assert any(("working directory is not clean" in r.message) for r in caplog.records)
+    assert any(("setup.cfg" in r.message) for r in caplog.records)
diff --git a/test/util.py b/test/util.py
index fdce4f7..27c1b37 100644
--- a/test/util.py
+++ b/test/util.py
@@ -34,16 +34,19 @@ FIXTURE_PATH_PARTS = [
 
 
 class Project:
-    def __init__(self, project="a"):
-        if not project.startswith("project_"):
-            project = "project_" + project
-
+    def __init__(self, project=None):
         tmpdir      = pl.Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="pytest_"))
         self.tmpdir = tmpdir
 
         self.dir = tmpdir / "pycalver_project"
         self.dir.mkdir()
 
+        if project is None:
+            return
+
+        if not project.startswith("project_"):
+            project = "project_" + project
+
         fixtures_subdir = FIXTURES_DIR / project
 
         for path_parts in FIXTURE_PATH_PARTS: