diff --git a/commons-serialize-xml/src/main/java/io/gitlab/jfronny/commons/serialize/xml/NativeXmlReader.java b/commons-serialize-xml/src/main/java/io/gitlab/jfronny/commons/serialize/xml/NativeXmlReader.java
index a1cae67..ef7bb79 100644
--- a/commons-serialize-xml/src/main/java/io/gitlab/jfronny/commons/serialize/xml/NativeXmlReader.java
+++ b/commons-serialize-xml/src/main/java/io/gitlab/jfronny/commons/serialize/xml/NativeXmlReader.java
@@ -700,9 +700,9 @@ public class NativeXmlReader implements Closeable {
                 case XmlScope.TAG_BODY:
                 case XmlScope.DANGLING_NAME:
                 case XmlScope.NONEMPTY_DOCUMENT:
-                    if (first) first = false;
-                    else result.append('.');
                     if (pathNames[i] != null) {
+                        if (first) first = false;
+                        else result.append('.');
                         result.append(pathNames[i]);
                     }
                     break;