diff --git a/data/core/common.lua b/data/core/common.lua
index d8f8a5aa..06ef2880 100644
--- a/data/core/common.lua
+++ b/data/core/common.lua
@@ -238,6 +238,9 @@ end
 
 local function split_on_slash(s, sep_pattern)
   local t = {}
+  if s:match("^[/\\]") then
+    t[#t + 1] = ""
+  end
   for fragment in string.gmatch(s, "([^/\\]+)") do
     t[#t + 1] = fragment
   end