diff --git a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
index 9f6c551..e61df25 100644
--- a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
+++ b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
@@ -255,6 +255,9 @@
 
 	FDT_RO_PROBE(fdt);
 
+	if (namelen < 1)
+		return -FDT_ERR_BADPATH;
+
 	/* see if we have an alias */
 	if (*path != '/') {
 		const char *q = memchr(path, '/', end - p);