diff --git a/src/coreclr/vm/gcheaputilities.cpp b/src/coreclr/vm/gcheaputilities.cpp
index cd0259eef45d83..94564204f769b0 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/vm/gcheaputilities.cpp
+++ b/src/coreclr/vm/gcheaputilities.cpp
@@ -186,8 +186,12 @@ HMODULE LoadStandaloneGc(LPCWSTR libFileName, LPCWSTR libFilePath)
         return nullptr;
     }
 
+    // The APP_CONTEXT_BASE_DIRECTORY is always set by the host. In cases
+    // where the runtime is activated as a component, the base directory
+    // will be an empty string. If the base directory is an empty string, skip it.
     SString appBase;
-    if (HostInformation::GetProperty("APP_CONTEXT_BASE_DIRECTORY", appBase))
+    if (HostInformation::GetProperty("APP_CONTEXT_BASE_DIRECTORY", appBase)
+        && u16_strlen(appBase.GetUnicode()) != 0)
     {
         PathString libPath = appBase.GetUnicode();
         libPath.Append(libFileName);