diff --git a/dev/MRTCore/mrt/Core/src/MRM.cpp b/dev/MRTCore/mrt/Core/src/MRM.cpp
index cdf750cc..48177356 100644
--- a/dev/MRTCore/mrt/Core/src/MRM.cpp
+++ b/dev/MRTCore/mrt/Core/src/MRM.cpp
@@ -992,9 +992,15 @@ STDAPI MrmGetFilePathFromName(_In_opt_ PCWSTR filename, _Outptr_ PWSTR* filePath
         wil::unique_cotaskmem_string baseDir;
         if (SUCCEEDED(wil::TryGetEnvironmentVariableW(L"MICROSOFT_WINDOWSAPPRUNTIME_BASE_DIRECTORY", baseDir)) && baseDir)
         {
-            path.swap(baseDir);
-            RETURN_IF_FAILED(StringCchLengthW(path.get(), STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &length));
-            RETURN_IF_FAILED(SizeTAdd(length, 1, &bufferCount));
+            // Validate that the base directory is accessible before using it
+            DWORD baseDirAttributes = GetFileAttributes(baseDir.get());
+            if (baseDirAttributes != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES && (baseDirAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
+            {
+                path.swap(baseDir);
+                RETURN_IF_FAILED(StringCchLengthW(path.get(), STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &length));
+                RETURN_IF_FAILED(SizeTAdd(length, 1, &bufferCount));
+            }
+            // If base directory is invalid, continue with the original exe path
         }
         filenameToUse = c_defaultPriFilename;
     }