diff --git a/.changeset/tough-worms-clap.md b/.changeset/tough-worms-clap.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3a18593549
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tough-worms-clap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend': patch
+---
+
+Fix parsing of the path to default to empty string not undefined if git-url-parse throws something we don't expect. Fixes the error `The "path" argument must be of type string.` when preparing.
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/bitbucket.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/bitbucket.ts
index d473656863..02865f8529 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/bitbucket.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/bitbucket.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export class BitbucketPreparer implements PreparerBase {
     const targetPath = path.join(workspacePath, 'template');
     const fullPathToTemplate = path.resolve(
       checkoutPath,
-      parsedGitUrl.filepath,
+      parsedGitUrl.filepath ?? '',
     );
 
     const git = Git.fromAuth({ logger, ...this.getAuth() });
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/github.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/github.ts
index 533aa8e005..77e6ec6d70 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/github.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/github.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export class GithubPreparer implements PreparerBase {
     const targetPath = path.join(workspacePath, 'template');
     const fullPathToTemplate = path.resolve(
       checkoutPath,
-      parsedGitUrl.filepath,
+      parsedGitUrl.filepath ?? '',
     );
 
     const git = this.config.token
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/gitlab.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/gitlab.ts
index fa5c8c1325..e15de33ac6 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/gitlab.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/stages/prepare/gitlab.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export class GitlabPreparer implements PreparerBase {
     const targetPath = path.join(workspacePath, 'template');
     const fullPathToTemplate = path.resolve(
       checkoutPath,
-      parsedGitUrl.filepath,
+      parsedGitUrl.filepath ?? '',
     );
     parsedGitUrl.git_suffix = true;