diff --git a/lib/tilelive.js b/lib/tilelive.js
index 09b848b..00d58da 100644
--- a/lib/tilelive.js
+++ b/lib/tilelive.js
@@ -76,7 +76,9 @@ tilelive.load = function(uri, callback) {
 
     if (typeof uri === 'string') {
         uri = url.parse(uri, true);
-        uri.pathname = qs.unescape(uri.pathname);
+        if (uri.pathname) {
+            uri.pathname = qs.unescape(uri.pathname);
+        }
     }
 
     // Handle uris in the format /path/to/dir?id=bar