diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupport.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupport.java
index c5af037a..17b97429 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupport.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupport.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import org.springframework.hateoas.Identifiable;
 import org.springframework.hateoas.Link;
 import org.springframework.hateoas.LinkBuilder;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.util.UriComponents;
 import org.springframework.web.util.UriComponentsBuilder;
 
@@ -59,7 +60,13 @@ public abstract class LinkBuilderSupport<T extends LinkBuilder> implements LinkB
 			return slash((Identifiable<?>) object);
 		}
 
-		UriComponents components = UriComponentsBuilder.fromUriString(object.toString()).build();
+		String path = object.toString();
+
+		if (!StringUtils.hasText(path)) {
+			return getThis();
+		}
+
+		UriComponents components = UriComponentsBuilder.fromUriString(path).build();
 		UriComponentsBuilder builder = UriComponentsBuilder.fromUri(uriComponents.toUri());
 
 		for (String pathSegment : components.getPathSegments()) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupportUnitTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupportUnitTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d597f6c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/core/LinkBuilderSupportUnitTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.hateoas.core;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.hateoas.TestUtils;
+import org.springframework.web.util.UriComponentsBuilder;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link LinkBuilderSupport}.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+public class LinkBuilderSupportUnitTest extends TestUtils {
+
+	@Test
+	public void callingSlashWithEmptyStringIsNoOp() {
+
+		SampleLinkBuilder builder = new SampleLinkBuilder(UriComponentsBuilder.newInstance());
+		assertThat(builder.slash(""), is(builder));
+	}
+
+	static class SampleLinkBuilder extends LinkBuilderSupport<SampleLinkBuilder> {
+
+		public SampleLinkBuilder(UriComponentsBuilder builder) {
+			super(builder);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected SampleLinkBuilder getThis() {
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected SampleLinkBuilder createNewInstance(UriComponentsBuilder builder) {
+			return new SampleLinkBuilder(builder);
+		}
+	}
+}