diff --git a/s3_scrubber/src/lib.rs b/s3_scrubber/src/lib.rs
index e5465952fb..f0ecf3380d 100644
--- a/s3_scrubber/src/lib.rs
+++ b/s3_scrubber/src/lib.rs
@@ -86,7 +86,9 @@ impl S3Target {
         if new_self.prefix_in_bucket.is_empty() {
             new_self.prefix_in_bucket = format!("/{}/", new_segment);
         } else {
-            let _ = new_self.prefix_in_bucket.pop();
+            if new_self.prefix_in_bucket.ends_with('/') {
+                let _ = new_self.prefix_in_bucket.pop();
+            }
             new_self.prefix_in_bucket =
                 [&new_self.prefix_in_bucket, new_segment, ""].join(&new_self.delimiter);
         }