diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
index 2a8c85d9..3f42bbb7 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
@@ -631,6 +631,8 @@ class UserSpawnHandler(BaseHandler):
 
     @gen.coroutine
     def get(self, name, user_path):
+        if not user_path:
+            user_path = '/'
         current_user = self.get_current_user()
 
         if current_user and current_user.name == name:
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_pages.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_pages.py
index 6f415d30..29480bab 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_pages.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_pages.py
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def test_user_redirect_deprecated(app):
     r.raise_for_status()
     print(urlparse(r.url))
     path = urlparse(r.url).path
-    assert path == ujoin(app.base_url, '/user/%s' % name)
+    assert path == ujoin(app.base_url, '/user/%s/' % name)
 
     r = yield get_page('/user/baduser/test.ipynb', app, cookies=cookies, hub=False)
     r.raise_for_status()