diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/handlers.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/handlers.py
index d84bbc155..b2d86a7d6 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/handlers.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/handlers.py
@@ -105,10 +105,7 @@ class NotebookHandler(IPythonHandler):
                 notebook_name = nbm.save_new_notebook(body, notebook_path=notebook_path, name=name, format=format)
             else:
                 notebook_name = nbm.new_notebook(notebook_path=notebook_path)
-            if notebook_path==None:
-                self.set_header('Location', nbm.notebook_dir + '/'+ notebook_name)
-            else:
-                self.set_header('Location', nbm.notebook_dir + '/'+ notebook_path + '/' + notebook_name)
+            self.set_header('Location', nbm.notebook_dir + notebook_path + notebook_name)
             model = nbm.notebook_model(notebook_name, notebook_path)
             self.finish(jsonapi.dumps(model))
         else:            
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
index 2d8c6ef7a..9f5772344 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
 
     def named_notebook_path(self, notebook_path):
         """Given a notebook_path name, returns a (name, path) tuple, where
-        name is a .ipynb file, and path is the directory for the file.
+        name is a .ipynb file, and path is the directory for the file, which
+        *always* starts *and* ends with a '/' character.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -59,10 +60,12 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
             the path to the directory which contains the notebook
         """
         names = notebook_path.split('/')
+        names = [n for n in names if n != ''] # remove duplicate splits
 
-        name = names[-1]
-        if name.endswith(".ipynb"):
-            name = name
+        names = [''] + names
+
+        if names and names[-1].endswith(".ipynb"):
+            name = names[-1]
             path = "/".join(names[:-1]) + '/'
         else:
             name = None
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
index e8370c8ec..ab633dfd1 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ class TestNotebookManager(TestCase):
         # doesn't end with ipynb, should just be path
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('hello')
         self.assertEqual(name, None)
-        self.assertEqual(path, 'hello/')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/hello/')
         
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('/')
         self.assertEqual(name, None)
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/')
 
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
@@ -55,5 +56,9 @@ class TestNotebookManager(TestCase):
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('/this/is/a/path/hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(path, '/this/is/a/path/')
+        
+        name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('path/without/leading/slash/hello.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/path/without/leading/slash/')