diff --git a/src/core/model/system-path.cc b/src/core/model/system-path.cc
index fdb8855f4..00965dee5 100644
--- a/src/core/model/system-path.cc
+++ b/src/core/model/system-path.cc
@@ -331,25 +331,29 @@ MakeDirectories (std::string path)
 
   // Make sure all directories on the path exist
   std::list<std::string> elements = Split (path);
-  for (std::list<std::string>::const_iterator i = elements.begin (); i != elements.end (); ++i)
+  auto i = elements.begin ();
+  while (i != elements.end ())
     {
+      if (*i == "")
+        {
+          NS_LOG_LOGIC ("skipping empty directory name");
+          ++i;
+          continue;
+        }
+      NS_LOG_LOGIC ("creating directory " << *i);
+      ++i;  // Now points to one past the directory we want to create
       std::string tmp = Join (elements.begin (), i);
+      bool makeDirErr = false;
+      
 #if defined(HAVE_MKDIR_H)
-      if (mkdir (tmp.c_str (), S_IRWXU))
+      makeDirErr = mkdir (tmp.c_str (), S_IRWXU);
+#endif
+
+      if (makeDirErr)
         {
           NS_LOG_ERROR ("failed creating directory " << tmp);
         }
-#endif
     }
-
-  // Make the final directory.  Is this redundant with last iteration above?
-#if defined(HAVE_MKDIR_H)
-  if (mkdir (path.c_str (), S_IRWXU))
-    {
-      NS_LOG_ERROR ("failed creating directory " << path);
-    }
-#endif
-
 }
 
 } // namespace SystemPath
diff --git a/src/core/model/system-path.h b/src/core/model/system-path.h
index 162aa8a76..8d7abc264 100644
--- a/src/core/model/system-path.h
+++ b/src/core/model/system-path.h
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ namespace SystemPath {
    *
    * \ingroup systempath
    * \param [in] begin Iterator to first element to join
-   * \param [in] end Iterator to last element to join
+   * \param [in] end Iterator to one past the last element to join
    * \return A path that is a concatenation of all the input elements.
    */
   std::string Join (std::list<std::string>::const_iterator begin,