diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/nutchbase/util/hbase/TableUtil.java b/src/java/org/apache/nutchbase/util/hbase/TableUtil.java
index f35050c..b6a635c 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/nutchbase/util/hbase/TableUtil.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/nutchbase/util/hbase/TableUtil.java
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ public class TableUtil {
     }
 
     /* add path */
-    if ('/' !=file.charAt(0))
+    if (file.length() == 0 || '/' !=file.charAt(0))
 		buf.append('/');
     buf.append(file);
     
diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/nutchbase/util/TestTableUtil.java b/src/test/org/apache/nutchbase/util/TestTableUtil.java
index 225fe8a..63178b0 100644
--- a/src/test/org/apache/nutchbase/util/TestTableUtil.java
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/nutchbase/util/TestTableUtil.java
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@ public class TestTableUtil extends TestCase {
   String urlString4 = "http://bar.baz.com:8983/to/index.html?a=b&c=d";
   String urlString5 = "http://foo.com?a=/a/b&c=0";
   String urlString5rev = "http://foo.com/?a=/a/b&c=0";
+  String urlString6 = "http://foo.com";
   
   String reversedUrlString1 = "com.foo:http/";
   String reversedUrlString2 = "com.foo:http:8900/";
   String reversedUrlString3 = "com.baz.bar:ftp/";
   String reversedUrlString4 = "com.baz.bar:http:8983/to/index.html?a=b&c=d";
   String reversedUrlString5 = "com.foo:http/?a=/a/b&c=0";
+  String reversedUrlString6 = "com.foo:http";
 	
   public void testReverseUrl() throws Exception {
     assertReverse(urlString1, reversedUrlString1);
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ public class TestTableUtil extends TestCase {
     assertReverse(urlString3, reversedUrlString3);
     assertReverse(urlString4, reversedUrlString4); 
 	assertReverse(urlString5, reversedUrlString5); 
+    assertReverse(urlString6, reversedUrlString6); 
   }
   
   public void testUnreverseUrl() throws Exception {
@@ -37,6 +40,7 @@ public class TestTableUtil extends TestCase {
     assertUnreverse(reversedUrlString3, urlString3);
     assertUnreverse(reversedUrlString4, urlString4);
     assertUnreverse(reversedUrlString5, urlString5rev);
+	assertUnreverse(reversedUrlString6, urlString6);
   }
 	
   private static void assertReverse(String url, String expectedReversedUrl) throws Exception {