diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index b8e7e1802..998f23a09 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -56,9 +56,15 @@ export function normalizeInputSource(source) {
 }
 
 export function sanitizePath(filepath) {
-  return normalizePath(filepath, false)
+  var sanitized = normalizePath(filepath, false)
     .replace(/^\w+:/, "")
     .replace(/^(\.\.\/|\/)+/, "");
+
+  if (sanitized.length === 0 && filepath.length > 0) {
+    return filepath;
+  }
+
+  return sanitized;
 }
 
 export function trailingSlashIt(str) {
diff --git a/test/archiver.js b/test/archiver.js
index 20de9ad19..eb5bed59c 100644
--- a/test/archiver.js
+++ b/test/archiver.js
@@ -189,6 +189,18 @@ describe("archiver", function () {
         assert.propertyVal(entries["directory/"], "crc32", 0);
         assert.propertyVal(entries["directory/"], "size", 0);
       });
+      it("should allow appending an entry named '\\'", function (done) {
+        var archive = new JsonArchive();
+        var stream = new WriteStream("tmp/append-backslash.json");
+        stream.on("close", function () {
+          var res = readJSON("tmp/append-backslash.json");
+          assert.equal(res[0].name, "\\");
+          assert.equal(res[0].type, "file");
+          done();
+        });
+        archive.pipe(stream);
+        archive.append("test content", { name: "\\" }).finalize();
+      });
     });
     describe("#directory", function () {
       var actual;