diff --git a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
index 738a68c6d7..b0660a9245 100644
--- a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
+++ b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package net.corda.plugins
 import com.typesafe.config.*
 import net.corda.cordform.CordformNode
 import org.bouncycastle.asn1.x500.X500Name
+import org.bouncycastle.asn1.x500.RDN
 import org.bouncycastle.asn1.x500.style.BCStyle
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import java.io.File
@@ -117,7 +118,12 @@ class Node(private val project: Project) : CordformNode() {
         }
 
         val dirName = try {
-            X500Name(name).getRDNs(BCStyle.O).first().first.value.toString()
+            val o = X500Name(name).getRDNs(BCStyle.O)
+            if (o.size > 0) {
+                o.first().first.value.toString()
+            } else {
+                name
+            }
         } catch(_ : IllegalArgumentException) {
             // Can't parse as an X500 name, use the full string
             name