diff --git a/core/path/filepath/path_windows.odin b/core/path/filepath/path_windows.odin
index 25b2ae500..28238dd6e 100644
--- a/core/path/filepath/path_windows.odin
+++ b/core/path/filepath/path_windows.odin
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ temp_full_path :: proc(name: string) -> (path: string, err: os.Errno) {
 			return "", os.Errno(win32.GetLastError())
 		}
 		if n <= u32(len(buf)) {
-			return win32.utf16_to_utf8(buf[:n], ta), os.ERROR_NONE
+			return win32.utf16_to_utf8(buf[:n], ta) or_else "", os.ERROR_NONE
 		}
 		resize(&buf, len(buf)*2)
 	}