diff --git a/src/OSD/OSD_Path.cxx b/src/OSD/OSD_Path.cxx
index c434dbe7f6..5ceb3669b1 100644
--- a/src/OSD/OSD_Path.cxx
+++ b/src/OSD/OSD_Path.cxx
@@ -1085,7 +1085,7 @@ void OSD_Path :: DownTrek ( const TCollection_AsciiString& aName ) {
 
  Standard_Integer pos = myTrek.Length ();
 
- if (  aName.Value ( 1 ) != '|'    &&
+ if ( !aName.IsEmpty() && aName.Value ( 1 ) != '|'    &&
        pos                                 &&
        myTrek.Value ( pos ) != '|'
  )