diff --git a/Source/cmInstallCommand.cxx b/Source/cmInstallCommand.cxx
index 2d632e7dbe..1449f3483c 100644
--- a/Source/cmInstallCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmInstallCommand.cxx
@@ -1791,10 +1791,11 @@ bool HandleDirectoryMode(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       exclude_from_all = true;
       doing = DoingNone;
     } else if (doing == DoingDirs) {
-      // Convert this directory to a full path.
+      // If the given directory is not a full path, convert it to one by
+      // assuming it's relative to the current source directory.
       std::string dir = args[i];
       std::string::size_type gpos = cmGeneratorExpression::Find(dir);
-      if (gpos != 0 && !cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(dir)) {
+      if (!dir.empty() && gpos != 0 && !cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(dir)) {
         dir =
           cmStrCat(helper.Makefile->GetCurrentSourceDirectory(), '/', args[i]);
       }
diff --git a/Source/cmInstallDirectoryGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmInstallDirectoryGenerator.cxx
index a388d917d8..cf1fac91fc 100644
--- a/Source/cmInstallDirectoryGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmInstallDirectoryGenerator.cxx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
    file LICENSE.rst or https://cmake.org/licensing for details.  */
 #include "cmInstallDirectoryGenerator.h"
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <utility>
 
 #include "cmGeneratorExpression.h"
@@ -54,6 +55,13 @@ bool cmInstallDirectoryGenerator::Compute(cmLocalGenerator* lg)
 std::vector<std::string> cmInstallDirectoryGenerator::GetDirectories(
   std::string const& config) const
 {
+  // If given only empty directories, collapse into a single specification to
+  // avoid redundant calls. This supports the use case of installing an empty
+  // directory into a destination when a directory is not specified.
+  if (std::all_of(this->Directories.begin(), this->Directories.end(),
+                  [](std::string const& d) { return d.empty(); })) {
+    return std::vector<std::string>{ "" };
+  }
   cmList directories;
   if (this->ActionsPerConfig) {
     for (std::string const& f : this->Directories) {
@@ -81,11 +89,13 @@ void cmInstallDirectoryGenerator::GenerateScriptForConfig(
 {
   std::vector<std::string> dirs = this->GetDirectories(config);
 
-  // Make sure all dirs have absolute paths.
-  cmMakefile const& mf = *this->LocalGenerator->GetMakefile();
-  for (std::string& d : dirs) {
-    if (!cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(d)) {
-      d = cmStrCat(mf.GetCurrentSourceDirectory(), '/', d);
+  if (!(dirs.size() == 1 && dirs[0].empty())) {
+    // Make sure all dirs have absolute paths.
+    cmMakefile const& mf = *this->LocalGenerator->GetMakefile();
+    for (std::string& d : dirs) {
+      if (!cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(d)) {
+        d = cmStrCat(mf.GetCurrentSourceDirectory(), '/', d);
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN-all-check.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN-all-check.cmake
index 7a20edc364..504d1fde35 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN-all-check.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN-all-check.cmake
@@ -1 +1 @@
-check_installed([[^dir1;dir1/empty\.c;dir1/empty\.h;dir2;dir2/pattern;dir2/pattern/empty\.txt;dir3;dir3/empty\.c;dir3/empty\.h;dir3/empty\.txt;dir4;dir4/empty\.c;dir4/empty\.h;dir4/empty\.txt;empty$]])
+check_installed([[^dir1;dir1/empty\.c;dir1/empty\.h;dir2;dir2/pattern;dir2/pattern/empty\.txt;dir3;dir3/empty\.c;dir3/empty\.h;dir3/empty\.txt;dir4;dir4/empty\.c;dir4/empty\.h;dir4/empty\.txt;empty;empty_str;empty_with_genex$]])
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN.cmake
index 74d804351e..61007ac44f 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/install/DIRECTORY-PATTERN.cmake
@@ -34,3 +34,13 @@ install(
   DIRECTORY
   DESTINATION empty
   )
+
+install(
+  DIRECTORY "" ""
+  DESTINATION empty_str
+  )
+
+install(
+  DIRECTORY
+  DESTINATION $<LOWER_CASE:EMPTY_WITH_GENEX>
+  )