diff --git a/Source/kwsys/SystemTools.cxx b/Source/kwsys/SystemTools.cxx
index 7c81eb08fe..94b75915ba 100644
--- a/Source/kwsys/SystemTools.cxx
+++ b/Source/kwsys/SystemTools.cxx
@@ -3975,12 +3975,18 @@ bool SystemTools::SetPermissions(const char* file, mode_t mode)
 
 kwsys_stl::string SystemTools::GetParentDirectory(const char* fileOrDir)
 {
-  if ( !fileOrDir || !*fileOrDir )
+  if ( !fileOrDir || !*fileOrDir || !SystemTools::FileExists(fileOrDir))
     {
     return "";
     }
   kwsys_stl::string res = fileOrDir;
   SystemTools::ConvertToUnixSlashes(res);
+  
+  // If the root "/" directory is passed in, return empty string
+  if(strcmp(res.c_str(), "/") ==0 )
+    {
+    return "";
+    }
   kwsys_stl::string::size_type cc = res.size()-1;
   if ( res[cc] == '/' )
     {