diff --git a/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc b/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
index ba4528ad272..bb256f0cf0a 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
@@ -398,9 +398,9 @@ Status S3FileSystem::FileExists(const string& fname) {
 Status S3FileSystem::GetChildren(const string& dir,
                                  std::vector<string>* result) {
   string bucket, prefix;
-  TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(ParseS3Path(dir, false, &bucket, &prefix));
+  TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(ParseS3Path(dir, true, &bucket, &prefix));
 
-  if (prefix.back() != '/') {
+  if (!prefix.empty() && prefix.back() != '/') {
     prefix.push_back('/');
   }