diff --git a/src/wuttaweb/cli/webapp.py b/src/wuttaweb/cli/webapp.py
index d81ae58..cf84682 100644
--- a/src/wuttaweb/cli/webapp.py
+++ b/src/wuttaweb/cli/webapp.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def webapp(
             'reload_dirs': config.get_list(f'{config.appname}.web.app.reload_dirs'),
             'factory': config.get_bool(f'{config.appname}.web.app.factory', default=False),
             'interface': config.get(f'{config.appname}.web.app.interface', default='auto'),
-            'root_path': config.get(f'{config.appname}.web.app.root_path'),
+            'root_path': config.get(f'{config.appname}.web.app.root_path', default=''),
         }
 
         # also must inject our config files to env, since there is no