diff --git a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
index e61df25..87d736b 100644
--- a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
+++ b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
@@ -258,6 +258,9 @@
 	if (namelen < 1)
 		return -FDT_ERR_BADPATH;
 
+	if (namelen < 1)
+		return -FDT_ERR_BADPATH;
+
 	/* see if we have an alias */
 	if (*path != '/') {
 		const char *q = memchr(path, '/', end - p);