diff --git a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
index 1cc54ebce..baf7122f3 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ public class URIBuilder {
     private static String normalizePath(final String path) {
         String s = path;
         if (s == null) {
-            return null;
+            return "/";
         }
         int n = 0;
         for (; n < s.length(); n++) {
@@ -504,6 +504,9 @@ public class URIBuilder {
         if (n > 1) {
             s = s.substring(n - 1);
         }
+        if (!s.startsWith("/")) {
+            s = "/" + s;
+        }
         return s;
     }
 
diff --git a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
index 6ed9d7af9..6afc59422 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
@@ -292,4 +292,11 @@ public class TestURIBuilder {
         return parameters;
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testMalformedPath() throws Exception {
+        final String path = "@notexample.com/mypath";
+        final URI uri = new URIBuilder(path).setHost("example.com").build();
+        Assert.assertEquals("example.com", uri.getHost());
+    }
+
 }