diff --git a/common/writeThoughFile.go b/common/writeThoughFile.go
index 76cb824e2..2fe184762 100644
--- a/common/writeThoughFile.go
+++ b/common/writeThoughFile.go
@@ -42,15 +42,28 @@ const PreserveOwnerDefault = true
 var RootDriveRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)(^[A-Z]:\/?$)`)
 var RootShareRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(^\/\/[^\/]*\/?$)`)
 
+func isRootPath(s string) bool {
+	shortParentDir := strings.ReplaceAll(ToShortPath(s), OS_PATH_SEPARATOR, AZCOPY_PATH_SEPARATOR_STRING)
+	return  RootDriveRegex.MatchString(shortParentDir)  ||
+		RootShareRegex.MatchString(shortParentDir)  ||
+		strings.EqualFold(shortParentDir, "/")
+}
+
+
 func CreateParentDirectoryIfNotExist(destinationPath string, tracker FolderCreationTracker) error {
-	// find the parent directory
-	directory := destinationPath[:strings.LastIndex(destinationPath, DeterminePathSeparator(destinationPath))]
+	// If we're pointing at the root of a drive, don't try because it won't work.
+	if isRootPath(destinationPath) {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	lastIndex := strings.LastIndex(destinationPath, DeterminePathSeparator(destinationPath))
+	directory := destinationPath[:lastIndex]
 	return CreateDirectoryIfNotExist(directory, tracker)
 }
 
 func CreateDirectoryIfNotExist(directory string, tracker FolderCreationTracker) error {
 	// If we're pointing at the root of a drive, don't try because it won't work.
-	if shortParentDir := strings.ReplaceAll(ToShortPath(directory), OS_PATH_SEPARATOR, AZCOPY_PATH_SEPARATOR_STRING); RootDriveRegex.MatchString(shortParentDir) || RootShareRegex.MatchString(shortParentDir) || strings.EqualFold(shortParentDir, "/") {
+	if isRootPath(directory) {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/testSuite/scripts/test_blob_download.py b/testSuite/scripts/test_blob_download.py
index 0e0fa9f3c..24642c1af 100644
--- a/testSuite/scripts/test_blob_download.py
+++ b/testSuite/scripts/test_blob_download.py
@@ -41,6 +41,29 @@ def test_download_1kb_blob_to_null(self):
         dst = os.devnull
         result = util.Command("copy").add_arguments(src).add_arguments(dst).add_flags("log-level", "info")
 
+    def test_download_1kb_blob_to_root(self):
+        # create file of size 1kb
+        filename = "test_1kb_blob_upload_download_null.txt"
+        file_path = util.create_test_file(filename, 1024)
+
+        # upload 1kb using azcopy
+        src = file_path
+        dst = util.test_container_url
+        result = util.Command("copy").add_arguments(src).add_arguments(dst). \
+            add_flags("log-level", "info").execute_azcopy_copy_command()
+        self.assertTrue(result)
+
+        # verify the uploaded blob
+        resource_url = util.get_resource_sas(filename)
+        result = util.Command("testBlob").add_arguments(file_path).add_arguments(resource_url).execute_azcopy_verify()
+        self.assertTrue(result)
+
+        # downloading the uploaded blob to devnull
+        # note we have no tests to verify the success of check-md5. TODO: remove this when fault induction is introduced
+        src = util.get_resource_sas(filename)
+        dst = "/"
+        result = util.Command("copy").add_arguments(src).add_arguments(dst).add_flags("log-level", "info")
+
     # test_download_1kb_blob verifies the download of 1Kb blob using azcopy.
     def test_download_1kb_blob(self):
         # create file of size 1KB.