diff --git a/topdown/json.go b/topdown/json.go
index 09a0ea6a93..d1d8897e4d 100644
--- a/topdown/json.go
+++ b/topdown/json.go
@@ -203,6 +203,12 @@ func pathsToObject(paths []ast.Ref) ast.Object {
 		node := root
 		var done bool
 
+		// If the path is an empty JSON path, skip all further processing.
+		if len(path) == 0 {
+			done = true
+		}
+
+		// Otherwise, we should have 1+ path segments to work with.
 		for i := 0; i < len(path)-1 && !done; i++ {
 
 			k := path[i]
diff --git a/topdown/json_test.go b/topdown/json_test.go
index 53d114e4ae..f1056f0c98 100644
--- a/topdown/json_test.go
+++ b/topdown/json_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ func TestFiltersToObject(t *testing.T) {
 		filters  []string
 		expected string
 	}{
+		{
+			note:     "empty path",
+			filters:  []string{`""`},
+			expected: `{}`,
+		},
 		{
 			note:     "base",
 			filters:  []string{`"a/b/c"`},
@@ -81,6 +86,11 @@ func TestFiltersToObject(t *testing.T) {
 			filters:  []string{`"a/~0b~1c/d~1~0"`},
 			expected: `{"a": {"~b/c": {"d/~": null}}}`,
 		},
+		{
+			note:     "empty strings mixed with normal paths",
+			filters:  []string{`"a/b/c"`, `""`, `"a/b/d"`, `"a/e/f"`, `""`},
+			expected: `{"a": {"b": {"c": null, "d": null}, "e": {"f": null}}}`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {