diff --git a/pcsx2/GameList.cpp b/pcsx2/GameList.cpp
index d271f3e8c55e7..1e7c979ae042f 100644
--- a/pcsx2/GameList.cpp
+++ b/pcsx2/GameList.cpp
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ void GameList::RewriteCacheFile()
 
 static bool IsPathExcluded(const std::vector<std::string>& excluded_paths, const std::string& path)
 {
-	return std::find_if(excluded_paths.begin(), excluded_paths.end(), [&path](const std::string& entry) { return path.starts_with(entry); }) != excluded_paths.end();
+	return std::find_if(excluded_paths.begin(), excluded_paths.end(), [&path](const std::string& entry) { return !entry.empty() && path.starts_with(entry); }) != excluded_paths.end();
 }
 
 void GameList::ScanDirectory(const char* path, bool recursive, bool only_cache, const std::vector<std::string>& excluded_paths,