diff --git a/lib/cookie.c b/lib/cookie.c
index 1bd80ff5b3..5f158395b6 100644
--- a/lib/cookie.c
+++ b/lib/cookie.c
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ struct CookieInfo *Curl_cookie_init(struct Curl_easy *data,
 
   if(data) {
     FILE *fp = NULL;
-    if(file) {
+    if(file && *file) {
       if(!strcmp(file, "-"))
         fp = stdin;
       else {