diff --git a/src/fcxml.c b/src/fcxml.c
index a2cc02e..90c079a 100644
--- a/src/fcxml.c
+++ b/src/fcxml.c
@@ -2101,7 +2101,9 @@ FcEndElement(void *userData, const XML_Char *name)
 	    strcat (data, "fonts");
 	}
 #endif
-	if (!FcStrUsesHome (data) || FcConfigHome ())
+	if (strlen ((char *) data) == 0)
+	    FcConfigMessage (parse, FcSevereWarning, "empty font directory name ignored");
+	else if (!FcStrUsesHome (data) || FcConfigHome ())
 	{
 	    if (!FcConfigAddDir (parse->config, data))
 		FcConfigMessage (parse, FcSevereError, "out of memory; cannot add directory %s", data);