diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 55891ff83e23cc..617ceb7e646089 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -591,6 +591,8 @@ static inline int needs_hiding(const char *path)
 			/* ignore trailing slashes */
 			if (*path)
 				basename = path;
+			else
+				break;
 		}
 
 	if (hide_dotfiles == HIDE_DOTFILES_TRUE)