diff --git a/liblava/util/file.cpp b/liblava/util/file.cpp
index 062b2c8e8f4b3d5440791631365a8ff92469d561..bf4c2dc6a2a135be543bd861d876b0a9b632d96f 100644
--- a/liblava/util/file.cpp
+++ b/liblava/util/file.cpp
@@ -211,6 +211,9 @@ namespace lava {
         if (!p)
             return false;
 
+        if (!p[0])
+            return false;
+
         path = p;
         write_mode = write;