diff --git a/src/sbbs3/load_cfg.c b/src/sbbs3/load_cfg.c
index 71f7cda9b821ead04fa94a41437f1c0df9fe86b4..6db98a079c7eabd8f9ab1eb8d83e822f57efe457 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/load_cfg.c
+++ b/src/sbbs3/load_cfg.c
@@ -254,11 +254,11 @@ BOOL md(char *inpath)
 	DIR*	dir;
 	char	path[MAX_PATH+1];
 
-	SAFECOPY(path,inpath);
-
-	if(path[0]==0)
+	if(inpath[0]==0)
 		return(FALSE);
 
+	SAFECOPY(path,inpath);
+
 	/* Remove trailing '.' if present */
 	if(path[strlen(path)-1]=='.')
 		path[strlen(path)-1]=0;