diff --git a/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py b/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
index 45bf4a1023..7b4c7c8178 100644
--- a/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
+++ b/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.core.files.storage import default_storage, Storage, FileSystemStorage
 from django.utils.datastructures import SortedDict
-from django.utils.functional import memoize, LazyObject
+from django.utils.functional import empty, memoize, LazyObject
 from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 from django.utils._os import safe_join
 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class AppDirectoriesFinder(BaseFinder):
         List all files in all app storages.
         """
         for storage in self.storages.itervalues():
-            if storage.exists(''): # check if storage location exists
+            if storage.exists(''):  # check if storage location exists
                 for path in utils.get_files(storage, ignore_patterns):
                     yield path, storage
 
@@ -210,12 +210,21 @@ class BaseStorageFinder(BaseFinder):
         for path in utils.get_files(self.storage, ignore_patterns):
             yield path, self.storage
 
+
 class DefaultStorageFinder(BaseStorageFinder):
     """
     A static files finder that uses the default storage backend.
     """
     storage = default_storage
 
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(DefaultStorageFinder, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        base_location = getattr(self.storage, 'base_location', empty)
+        if not base_location:
+            raise ImproperlyConfigured("The storage backend of the "
+                                       "staticfiles finder %r doesn't have "
+                                       "a valid location." % self.__class__)
+
 
 def find(path, all=False):
     """
@@ -237,10 +246,12 @@ def find(path, all=False):
     # No match.
     return all and [] or None
 
+
 def get_finders():
     for finder_path in settings.STATICFILES_FINDERS:
         yield get_finder(finder_path)
 
+
 def _get_finder(import_path):
     """
     Imports the staticfiles finder class described by import_path, where
diff --git a/django/core/files/storage.py b/django/core/files/storage.py
index 73126a3cb9..aa62175819 100644
--- a/django/core/files/storage.py
+++ b/django/core/files/storage.py
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ from django.utils.encoding import force_unicode, filepath_to_uri
 from django.utils.functional import LazyObject
 from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 from django.utils.text import get_valid_filename
-from django.utils._os import safe_join
+from django.utils._os import safe_join, abspathu
+
 
 __all__ = ('Storage', 'FileSystemStorage', 'DefaultStorage', 'default_storage')
 
@@ -145,9 +146,10 @@ class FileSystemStorage(Storage):
     def __init__(self, location=None, base_url=None):
         if location is None:
             location = settings.MEDIA_ROOT
+        self.base_location = location
+        self.location = abspathu(self.base_location)
         if base_url is None:
             base_url = settings.MEDIA_URL
-        self.location = os.path.abspath(location)
         self.base_url = base_url
 
     def _open(self, name, mode='rb'):
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
index f00d502931..6a7a46af21 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
@@ -96,6 +96,14 @@ class FileStorageTests(unittest.TestCase):
         shutil.rmtree(self.temp_dir)
         shutil.rmtree(self.temp_dir2)
 
+    def test_emtpy_location(self):
+        """
+        Makes sure an exception is raised if the location is empty
+        """
+        storage = self.storage_class(location='')
+        self.assertEqual(storage.base_location, '')
+        self.assertEqual(storage.location, os.getcwd())
+
     def test_file_access_options(self):
         """
         Standard file access options are available, and work as expected.
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/staticfiles_tests/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/staticfiles_tests/tests.py
index 8a179141b9..5c141f695a 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/staticfiles_tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/staticfiles_tests/tests.py
@@ -496,6 +496,9 @@ class TestMiscFinder(TestCase):
     """
     A few misc finder tests.
     """
+    def setUp(self):
+        default_storage._wrapped = empty
+
     def test_get_finder(self):
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(finders.get_finder(
             'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder'),
@@ -509,13 +512,17 @@ class TestMiscFinder(TestCase):
         self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured,
             finders.get_finder, 'foo.bar.FooBarFinder')
 
+    @override_settings(STATICFILES_DIRS='a string')
     def test_non_tuple_raises_exception(self):
         """
         We can't determine if STATICFILES_DIRS is set correctly just by
         looking at the type, but we can determine if it's definitely wrong.
         """
-        with self.settings(STATICFILES_DIRS='a string'):
-            self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured, finders.FileSystemFinder)
+        self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured, finders.FileSystemFinder)
+
+    @override_settings(MEDIA_ROOT='')
+    def test_location_empty(self):
+        self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured, finders.DefaultStorageFinder)
 
 
 class TestTemplateTag(StaticFilesTestCase):