diff --git a/rosbag2_compression/src/rosbag2_compression/sequential_compression_writer.cpp b/rosbag2_compression/src/rosbag2_compression/sequential_compression_writer.cpp
index cc04ecec7..3747f3c80 100644
--- a/rosbag2_compression/src/rosbag2_compression/sequential_compression_writer.cpp
+++ b/rosbag2_compression/src/rosbag2_compression/sequential_compression_writer.cpp
@@ -333,12 +333,17 @@ void SequentialCompressionWriter::compress_file(
   BaseCompressorInterface & compressor,
   const std::string & file_relative_to_bag)
 {
+  if (file_relative_to_bag.empty()) {
+    ROSBAG2_COMPRESSION_LOG_DEBUG_STREAM("Cannot compress file with empty path relative to bag."
+                                         " Skipping compression.");
+    return;
+  }
   const auto file_relative_to_pwd = fs::path(base_folder_) / file_relative_to_bag;
-  ROSBAG2_COMPRESSION_LOG_INFO_STREAM("Compressing file: " << file_relative_to_pwd.string());
 
-  if (fs::exists(file_relative_to_pwd) &&
+  if (fs::exists(file_relative_to_pwd) && !fs::is_directory(file_relative_to_pwd) &&
     fs::file_size(file_relative_to_pwd) > 0u)
   {
+    ROSBAG2_COMPRESSION_LOG_INFO_STREAM("Compressing file: " << file_relative_to_pwd.string());
     const auto compressed_uri = compressor.compress_uri(file_relative_to_pwd.string());
     const auto relative_compressed_uri = fs::path(compressed_uri).filename();
     {
@@ -367,7 +372,7 @@ void SequentialCompressionWriter::compress_file(
           "will not be halted because the compressed output was successfully created.");
     }
   } else {
-    ROSBAG2_COMPRESSION_LOG_DEBUG_STREAM(
+    ROSBAG2_COMPRESSION_LOG_WARN_STREAM(
       "Removing last file: \"" << file_relative_to_pwd.string() <<
         "\" because it either is empty or does not exist.");
   }