diff --git a/src/common/filename.cpp b/src/common/filename.cpp
index 7dc9c0a196..6e4fe199f6 100644
--- a/src/common/filename.cpp
+++ b/src/common/filename.cpp
@@ -1484,7 +1484,10 @@ void wxFileName::SplitPath(const wxString& fullpathWithVolume,
             // the path equal to something like '/', not empty, for the files
             // immediately under root directory
             size_t len = posLastSlash;
-            if ( !len )
+
+            // this rule does not apply to mac since we do not start with colons (sep)
+            // except for relative paths
+            if ( !len && format != wxPATH_MAC)
                 len++;
 
             *pstrPath = fullpath.Left(len);