diff --git a/docs/about/release-notes.md b/docs/about/release-notes.md
index dc90f98b..33bcf08e 100644
--- a/docs/about/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/about/release-notes.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ The current members of the MkDocs-NG team.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+* Fix CLI default handling with recent Click versions so omitted options do not override configured `strict`, `use_directory_urls`, or serve reload mode values.
 * Fix dropdown submenu arrow invisible in the navigation menu. #44
 * Fix malformed URLs (e.g., unterminated IPv6 literals) crashing the entire build. #45
 * Fix build crash caused by broken (dangling) symlinks in the docs directory. #46
diff --git a/mkdocs/__main__.py b/mkdocs/__main__.py
index a6e278c0..1f81388d 100644
--- a/mkdocs/__main__.py
+++ b/mkdocs/__main__.py
@@ -219,6 +219,19 @@ def callback(ctx, param, value):
     )(f)
 
 
+def unset_default_source_values(kwargs, *names):
+    ctx = click.get_current_context(silent=True)
+    if ctx is None:
+        return
+
+    for name in names:
+        if (
+            name in kwargs
+            and ctx.get_parameter_source(name) is click.core.ParameterSource.DEFAULT
+        ):
+            kwargs[name] = None
+
+
 common_options = add_options(quiet_option, verbose_option)
 common_config_options = add_options(
     click.option("-f", "--config-file", type=click.File("rb"), help=config_help),
@@ -283,6 +296,7 @@ def serve_command(**kwargs):
     from mkdocs.commands import serve
 
     _enable_warnings()
+    unset_default_source_values(kwargs, "build_type", "strict", "use_directory_urls")
     serve.serve(**kwargs)
 
 
@@ -296,6 +310,7 @@ def build_command(clean, **kwargs):
     from mkdocs.commands import build
 
     _enable_warnings()
+    unset_default_source_values(kwargs, "strict", "use_directory_urls")
     cfg = config.load_config(**kwargs)
     cfg.plugins.on_startup(command="build", dirty=not clean)
     try:
@@ -331,6 +346,7 @@ def gh_deploy_command(
     from mkdocs.commands import build, gh_deploy
 
     _enable_warnings()
+    unset_default_source_values(kwargs, "strict", "use_directory_urls")
     cfg = config.load_config(
         remote_branch=remote_branch, remote_name=remote_name, **kwargs
     )
diff --git a/mkdocs/tests/cli_tests.py b/mkdocs/tests/cli_tests.py
index d4f1cefd..e028f146 100644
--- a/mkdocs/tests/cli_tests.py
+++ b/mkdocs/tests/cli_tests.py
@@ -14,6 +14,33 @@ class CLITests(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.runner = CliRunner()
 
+    def test_unset_default_source_values_restores_default_values(self):
+        kwargs = {"build_type": "False", "strict": False, "use_directory_urls": False}
+        ctx = mock.Mock()
+        ctx.get_parameter_source.return_value = cli.click.core.ParameterSource.DEFAULT
+
+        with mock.patch("mkdocs.__main__.click.get_current_context", return_value=ctx):
+            cli.unset_default_source_values(
+                kwargs, "build_type", "strict", "use_directory_urls"
+            )
+
+        self.assertIsNone(kwargs["build_type"])
+        self.assertIsNone(kwargs["strict"])
+        self.assertIsNone(kwargs["use_directory_urls"])
+
+    def test_unset_default_source_values_preserves_commandline_values(self):
+        kwargs = {"strict": False, "use_directory_urls": False}
+        ctx = mock.Mock()
+        ctx.get_parameter_source.return_value = (
+            cli.click.core.ParameterSource.COMMANDLINE
+        )
+
+        with mock.patch("mkdocs.__main__.click.get_current_context", return_value=ctx):
+            cli.unset_default_source_values(kwargs, "strict", "use_directory_urls")
+
+        self.assertFalse(kwargs["strict"])
+        self.assertFalse(kwargs["use_directory_urls"])
+
     @mock.patch("mkdocs.commands.serve.serve", autospec=True)
     def test_serve_default(self, mock_serve):
         result = self.runner.invoke(cli.cli, ["serve"], catch_exceptions=False)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6e610245..37bffb20 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ classifiers = [
 dynamic = ["version"]
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
 dependencies = [
-    "click >=7.0",
+    "click >=8.1.8",
     "Jinja2 >=2.11.1",
     "markupsafe >=2.0.1",
     "Markdown >=3.3.6",