diff --git a/lib/util/glob-utils.js b/lib/util/glob-utils.js
index b05c354439d..33cb8e7c885 100644
--- a/lib/util/glob-utils.js
+++ b/lib/util/glob-utils.js
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ function processPath(options) {
      * @private
      */
     return function(pathname) {
+        if (pathname === "") {
+            return "";
+        }
+
         let newPath = pathname;
         const resolvedPath = path.resolve(cwd, pathname);
 
@@ -201,6 +205,13 @@ function listFilesToProcess(globPatterns, providedOptions) {
 
     debug("Creating list of files to process.");
     const resolvedPathsByGlobPattern = resolvedGlobPatterns.map(pattern => {
+        if (pattern === "") {
+            return [{
+                filename: "",
+                behavior: SILENTLY_IGNORE
+            }];
+        }
+
         const file = path.resolve(cwd, pattern);
 
         if (options.globInputPaths === false || (fs.existsSync(file) && fs.statSync(file).isFile())) {
@@ -240,7 +251,7 @@ function listFilesToProcess(globPatterns, providedOptions) {
     });
 
     const allPathDescriptors = resolvedPathsByGlobPattern.reduce((pathsForAllGlobs, pathsForCurrentGlob, index) => {
-        if (pathsForCurrentGlob.every(pathDescriptor => pathDescriptor.behavior === SILENTLY_IGNORE)) {
+        if (pathsForCurrentGlob.every(pathDescriptor => pathDescriptor.behavior === SILENTLY_IGNORE && pathDescriptor.filename !== "")) {
             throw new (pathsForCurrentGlob.length ? AllFilesIgnoredError : NoFilesFoundError)(globPatterns[index]);
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/lib/util/glob-utils.js b/tests/lib/util/glob-utils.js
index 6b61f8b4061..9bafcfa0779 100644
--- a/tests/lib/util/glob-utils.js
+++ b/tests/lib/util/glob-utils.js
@@ -329,6 +329,13 @@ describe("globUtils", () => {
             }, `No files matching '${patterns[0]}' were found.`);
         });
 
+        it("should ignore empty patterns", () => {
+            const patterns = [""];
+            const result = globUtils.listFilesToProcess(patterns);
+
+            assert.deepStrictEqual(result, []);
+        });
+
         it("should return an ignored file, if ignore option is turned off", () => {
             const options = { ignore: false };
             const patterns = [getFixturePath("glob-util", "ignored", "**/*.js")];