diff --git a/conda/activate.py b/conda/activate.py
index 57b6237f29..05fd5989a8 100644
--- a/conda/activate.py
+++ b/conda/activate.py
@@ -611,6 +611,9 @@ def _get_starting_path_list(self):
             "PATH",
             clean_paths[sys.platform] if sys.platform in clean_paths else "/usr/bin",
         )
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            # Windows 10+ has a trailing semicolon by default, remove it to prevent empty entry
+            path = path.strip(os.pathsep)
         path_split = path.split(os.pathsep)
         return path_split