diff --git a/cmd/interactive.go b/cmd/interactive.go
index 94578f11..bc620efa 100644
--- a/cmd/interactive.go
+++ b/cmd/interactive.go
@@ -501,28 +501,22 @@ func buildModelfile(opts runOptions) string {
 }
 
 func normalizeFilePath(fp string) string {
-	// Define a map of escaped characters and their replacements
-	replacements := map[string]string{
-		"\\ ":  " ",  // Escaped space
-		"\\(":  "(",  // Escaped left parenthesis
-		"\\)":  ")",  // Escaped right parenthesis
-		"\\[":  "[",  // Escaped left square bracket
-		"\\]":  "]",  // Escaped right square bracket
-		"\\{":  "{",  // Escaped left curly brace
-		"\\}":  "}",  // Escaped right curly brace
-		"\\$":  "$",  // Escaped dollar sign
-		"\\&":  "&",  // Escaped ampersand
-		"\\;":  ";",  // Escaped semicolon
-		"\\'":  "'",  // Escaped single quote
-		"\\\\": "\\", // Escaped backslash
-		"\\*":  "*",  // Escaped asterisk
-		"\\?":  "?",  // Escaped question mark
-	}
-
-	for escaped, actual := range replacements {
-		fp = strings.ReplaceAll(fp, escaped, actual)
-	}
-	return fp
+	return strings.NewReplacer(
+		"\\ ", " ", // Escaped space
+		"\\(", "(", // Escaped left parenthesis
+		"\\)", ")", // Escaped right parenthesis
+		"\\[", "[", // Escaped left square bracket
+		"\\]", "]", // Escaped right square bracket
+		"\\{", "{", // Escaped left curly brace
+		"\\}", "}", // Escaped right curly brace
+		"\\$", "$", // Escaped dollar sign
+		"\\&", "&", // Escaped ampersand
+		"\\;", ";", // Escaped semicolon
+		"\\'", "'", // Escaped single quote
+		"\\\\", "\\", // Escaped backslash
+		"\\*", "*", // Escaped asterisk
+		"\\?", "?", // Escaped question mark
+	).Replace(fp)
 }
 
 func extractFileNames(input string) []string {
@@ -542,10 +536,9 @@ func extractFileData(input string) (string, []api.ImageData, error) {
 	for _, fp := range filePaths {
 		nfp := normalizeFilePath(fp)
 		data, err := getImageData(nfp)
-		if err != nil {
-			if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-				continue
-			}
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			continue
+		} else if err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Couldn't process image: %q\n", err)
 			return "", imgs, err
 		}
@@ -553,7 +546,7 @@ func extractFileData(input string) (string, []api.ImageData, error) {
 		input = strings.ReplaceAll(input, fp, "")
 		imgs = append(imgs, data)
 	}
-	return input, imgs, nil
+	return strings.TrimSpace(input), imgs, nil
 }
 
 func getImageData(filePath string) ([]byte, error) {