diff --git a/Python/fileutils.c b/Python/fileutils.c
index 0ffd9885fdc846..9c4998397c4ac8 100644
--- a/Python/fileutils.c
+++ b/Python/fileutils.c
@@ -2383,7 +2383,7 @@ wchar_t *
 _Py_normpath_and_size(wchar_t *path, Py_ssize_t size, Py_ssize_t *normsize)
 {
     assert(path != NULL);
-    if (!path[0] && size < 0 || size == 0) {
+    if ((size < 0 && !path[0]) || size == 0) {
         *normsize = 0;
         return path;
     }