diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs b/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
index fbbdb5289a..066e3e99d1 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common.PathExtensions
 
 		public static (string? Dir, string FileNoExt, string? FileExt) SplitPathToDirFileAndExt(this string path)
 			=> (
-				Path.GetDirectoryName(path),
+				string.IsNullOrEmpty(path) ? null : Path.GetDirectoryName(path),
 				Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(path),
 				Path.GetExtension(path) is { Length: not 0 } ext
 					? ext