diff --git a/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportService.php b/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportService.php
index 5bd0088e13a..0e30589d743 100644
--- a/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportService.php
+++ b/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportService.php
@@ -180,9 +180,15 @@ class NodeImportService
     public function import(\XMLReader $xmlReader, $targetPath, $resourceLoadPath = null)
     {
         $this->propertyMappingConfiguration = new ImportExportPropertyMappingConfiguration($resourceLoadPath);
-        $this->nodeNameStack = ($targetPath === '/') ? array() : array_map(function ($pathSegment) {
-            return Utility::renderValidNodeName($pathSegment);
-        }, explode('/', $targetPath));
+        $this->nodeNameStack = [];
+
+        if ($targetPath !== '/') {
+            $pathSegments = explode('/', $targetPath);
+            array_shift($pathSegments);
+            $this->nodeNameStack = array_map(function ($pathSegment) {
+                return Utility::renderValidNodeName($pathSegment);
+            }, $pathSegments);
+        }
 
         $formatVersion = $this->determineFormatVersion($xmlReader);
         switch ($formatVersion) {
@@ -267,7 +273,7 @@ protected function parseElement(\XMLReader $xmlReader)
                 $this->nodeIdentifierStack[] = $xmlReader->getAttribute('identifier');
                 // update current path
                 $nodeName = $xmlReader->getAttribute('nodeName');
-                if ($nodeName !== '/') {
+                if ($nodeName !== '/' && $nodeName !== '') {
                     $this->nodeNameStack[] = Utility::renderValidNodeName($nodeName);
                 }
                 break;
@@ -583,7 +589,7 @@ protected function parseEndElement(\XMLReader $reader)
     protected function getCurrentPath()
     {
         $path = implode('/', $this->nodeNameStack);
-        return ($path === '') ? '/' : $path;
+        return '/' . $path;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Utility.php b/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Utility.php
index 5608c1812ee..0a3171c5a05 100644
--- a/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Utility.php
+++ b/Neos.ContentRepository/Classes/Utility.php
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ public static function renderValidNodeName($name)
             return $name;
         }
 
+        $originalName = $name;
+
         // Transliterate (transform 北京 to 'Bei Jing')
         $name = Transliterator::transliterate($name);
 
@@ -44,6 +46,11 @@ public static function renderValidNodeName($name)
         // Ensure only allowed characters are left
         $name = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9\-]/', '', $name);
 
+        // Make sure we don't have an empty string left.
+        if ($name === '') {
+            $name = 'node-' . strtolower(md5($originalName));
+        }
+
         return $name;
     }
 
diff --git a/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportServiceTest.php b/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportServiceTest.php
index 5f556562fde..46e98aa6d2b 100644
--- a/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportServiceTest.php
+++ b/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/Domain/Service/ImportExport/NodeImportServiceTest.php
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 use Neos\Flow\Property\PropertyMapper;
 use Neos\Flow\Security\Context;
 use Neos\Flow\Tests\UnitTestCase;
-use Neos\Flow\Utility\Now;
 use Neos\ContentRepository\Domain\Service\ImportExport\NodeImportService;
 
 class NodeImportServiceTest extends UnitTestCase
@@ -63,8 +62,8 @@ public function importSingleNode()
             'removed' => false,
             'hidden' => false,
             'hiddenInIndex' => false,
-            'path' => 'neosdemoio',
-            'pathHash' => '0423106850d41d93150a4e8e3ecd68b3',
+            'path' => '/neosdemoio',
+            'pathHash' => '9204ab1d1079b1d950fffecf874955c3',
             'parentPath' => '/',
             'parentPathHash' => '6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9',
             'properties' => array(
@@ -129,8 +128,8 @@ public function importSingleNodeWithoutIdentifier()
             'removed' => false,
             'hidden' => false,
             'hiddenInIndex' => false,
-            'path' => 'neosdemoio',
-            'pathHash' => '0423106850d41d93150a4e8e3ecd68b3',
+            'path' => '/neosdemoio',
+            'pathHash' => '9204ab1d1079b1d950fffecf874955c3',
             'parentPath' => '/',
             'parentPathHash' => '6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9',
             'properties' => array(
@@ -184,8 +183,8 @@ public function importWithEmptyPropertyImportsAllProperties()
                 'removed' => false,
                 'hidden' => false,
                 'hiddenInIndex' => false,
-                'path' => 'neosdemoio',
-                'pathHash' => '0423106850d41d93150a4e8e3ecd68b3',
+                'path' => '/neosdemoio',
+                'pathHash' => '9204ab1d1079b1d950fffecf874955c3',
                 'parentPath' => '/',
                 'parentPathHash' => '6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9',
                 'properties' => array(
@@ -259,8 +258,8 @@ public function importWithEmptyPropertyImportsAllProperties()
                 'removed' => false,
                 'hidden' => false,
                 'hiddenInIndex' => false,
-                'path' => 'node53a18fb53bdf2',
-                'pathHash' => '3f1d4fea7c0b21d21098960149de9c80',
+                'path' => '/node53a18fb53bdf2',
+                'pathHash' => 'adb885c51ef09d0d4beec84adff97355',
                 'parentPath' => '/',
                 'parentPathHash' => '6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9',
                 'properties' => array(
@@ -352,8 +351,8 @@ public function importWithArrayPropertiesImportsCorrectly()
                 'removed' => false,
                 'hidden' => false,
                 'hiddenInIndex' => false,
-                'path' => 'node53a18fb53bdf2',
-                'pathHash' => '3f1d4fea7c0b21d21098960149de9c80',
+                'path' => '/node53a18fb53bdf2',
+                'pathHash' => 'adb885c51ef09d0d4beec84adff97355',
                 'parentPath' => '/',
                 'parentPathHash' => '6666cd76f96956469e7be39d750cc7d9',
                 'properties' => array(
diff --git a/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/UtilityTest.php b/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/UtilityTest.php
index fb3ffde53a8..91b0a4fca2c 100644
--- a/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/UtilityTest.php
+++ b/Neos.ContentRepository/Tests/Unit/UtilityTest.php
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ public function sourcesAndNodeNames()
             ['ελληνικά', 'ellenika'],
             ['မြန်မာဘာသာ', 'm-n-maabhaasaa'],
             [' हिन्दी', 'hindii'],
-            [' x- ', 'x']
+            [' x- ', 'x'],
+            ['', 'node-' . md5('')],
+            [',.~', 'node-' . md5(',.~')]
         ];
     }
 
diff --git a/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetService.php b/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetService.php
index 24a723b0fe6..2632bec62b0 100644
--- a/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetService.php
+++ b/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetService.php
@@ -251,9 +251,9 @@ public function replaceAssetResource(AssetInterface $asset, PersistentResource $
         $uriMapping = [];
         $redirectHandlerEnabled = isset($options['generateRedirects']) && (boolean)$options['generateRedirects'] === true && $this->packageManager->isPackageAvailable('Neos.RedirectHandler');
         if ($redirectHandlerEnabled) {
-            $uriMapping[
-                $this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($originalAssetResource)
-            ] = $this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($asset->getResource());
+            $originalAssetResourceUri = new Uri($this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($originalAssetResource));
+            $newAssetResourceUri = new Uri($this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($asset->getResource()));
+            $uriMapping[$originalAssetResourceUri->getPath()] = $newAssetResourceUri->getPath();
         }
 
         if (method_exists($asset, 'getVariants')) {
@@ -272,9 +272,9 @@ public function replaceAssetResource(AssetInterface $asset, PersistentResource $
                 }
 
                 if ($redirectHandlerEnabled) {
-                    $uriMapping[
-                        $this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($originalVariantResource)
-                    ] = $this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($variant->getResource());
+                    $originalVariantResourceUri = new Uri($this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($originalVariantResource));
+                    $newVariantResourceUri = new Uri($this->resourceManager->getPublicPersistentResourceUri($variant->getResource()));
+                    $uriMapping[$originalVariantResourceUri->getPath()] = $newVariantResourceUri->getPath();
                 }
 
                 $this->getRepository($variant)->update($variant);