diff -Naur apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/LocalStrings.properties apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src-patched/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/LocalStrings.properties
--- apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/LocalStrings.properties	2006-04-14 20:11:42.000000000 +0200
+++ apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src-patched/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/LocalStrings.properties	2006-08-11 12:09:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 standardContext.loginConfig.loginWarning=WARNING: Form login page {0} must start with a ''/'' in Servlet 2.4
 standardContext.loginConfig.required=LoginConfig cannot be null
 standardContext.mappingError=MAPPING configuration error for relative URI {0}
+standardContext.pathRequired=Context path must be configured
 standardContext.notFound=The requested resource ({0}) is not available.
 standardContext.notReloadable=Reloading is disabled on this Context
 standardContext.notStarted=Context has not yet been started
diff -Naur apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/StandardContext.java apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src-patched/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/StandardContext.java
--- apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/StandardContext.java	2006-04-14 20:11:42.000000000 +0200
+++ apache-tomcat-5.5.17-src-patched/container/catalina/src/share/org/apache/catalina/core/StandardContext.java	2006-08-11 12:09:43.000000000 +0200
@@ -3798,9 +3798,12 @@
         Hashtable env = new Hashtable();
         if (getParent() != null)
             env.put(ProxyDirContext.HOST, getParent().getName());
-        env.put(ProxyDirContext.CONTEXT, getName());
 
         try {
+	    if (getName() == null)
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException
+                    (sm.getString("standardContext.pathRequired"));
+            env.put(ProxyDirContext.CONTEXT, getName());
             ProxyDirContext proxyDirContext =
                 new ProxyDirContext(env, webappResources);
             if (webappResources instanceof FileDirContext) {