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 baf7122f3..974d34e5c 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
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import org.apache.http.Consts;
 import org.apache.http.NameValuePair;
 import org.apache.http.conn.util.InetAddressUtils;
 import org.apache.http.message.BasicNameValuePair;
+import org.apache.http.util.TextUtils;
 
 /**
  * Builder for {@link URI} instances.
@@ -492,8 +493,8 @@ public class URIBuilder {
 
     private static String normalizePath(final String path) {
         String s = path;
-        if (s == null) {
-            return "/";
+        if (TextUtils.isBlank(s)) {
+            return "";
         }
         int n = 0;
         for (; n < s.length(); n++) {