diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/global.rb b/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
index d321f1c259..6075f0cd24 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/global.rb
@@ -94,4 +94,4 @@ unless ARGV.include? "--no-compat" or ENV['HOMEBREW_NO_COMPAT']
   require 'compatibility'
 end
 
-ORIGINAL_PATHS = ENV['PATH'].split(':').map{ |p| Pathname.new(File.expand_path(p)) }
+ORIGINAL_PATHS = ENV['PATH'].split(':').map{ |p| Pathname.new(File.expand_path(p)) rescue nil }.compact.freeze