--- a/src/load-path.cc
+++ b/src/load-path.cc
@@ -606,6 +606,23 @@
     do_add (dir, false, warn);
 }
 
+// Strip trailing directory separators.
+
+static std::string
+strip_trailing_separators (const std::string& dir_arg)
+{
+  std::string dir = dir_arg;
+
+  octave_idx_type k = dir.length ();
+  while (k > 1 && file_ops::is_dir_sep (dir[k-1]))
+    k--;
+
+  if (k < dir.length ())
+    dir.resize (k);
+
+  return dir;
+}
+
 void
 load_path::do_add (const std::string& dir_arg, bool at_end, bool warn)
 {
@@ -617,6 +634,8 @@
 
   std::string dir = file_ops::tilde_expand (dir_arg);
 
+  dir = strip_trailing_separators (dir);
+
   dir_info_list_iterator i = find_dir_info (dir);
 
   if (i != dir_info_list.end ())
@@ -774,6 +793,8 @@
         {
           std::string dir = file_ops::tilde_expand (dir_arg);
 
+          dir = strip_trailing_separators (dir);
+
           dir_info_list_iterator i = find_dir_info (dir);
 
           if (i != dir_info_list.end ())