diff --git a/repos/os/include/os/path.h b/repos/os/include/os/path.h
index f89b715f29..cfdc744a2f 100644
--- a/repos/os/include/os/path.h
+++ b/repos/os/include/os/path.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ class Genode::Path_base
 	public:
 
 		class Path_too_long { };
+		class Path_invalid  { };
 
 	protected:
 
@@ -196,6 +197,9 @@ class Genode::Path_base
 
 		void import(char const *path, char const *pwd = 0)
 		{
+			if (!path)
+				throw Path_invalid();
+
 			/*
 			 * Validate 'pwd' argument, if not supplied, enforce invariant
 			 * that 'pwd' is an absolute path.