diff --git a/paddle/utils/Util.cpp b/paddle/utils/Util.cpp
index 220aac1ff1..dbab4ec43c 100644
--- a/paddle/utils/Util.cpp
+++ b/paddle/utils/Util.cpp
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ void mkDir(const char* filename) {
 void mkDirRecursively(const char* dir) {
   struct stat sb;
 
+  if (*dir == 0) return;  // empty string
   if (!stat(dir, &sb)) return;
 
   mkDirRecursively(path::dirname(dir).c_str());