diff --git a/spec/v1/providers/database.spec.ts b/spec/v1/providers/database.spec.ts
index 9651961dc..b4b4029a1 100644
--- a/spec/v1/providers/database.spec.ts
+++ b/spec/v1/providers/database.spec.ts
@@ -458,6 +458,7 @@ describe("DataSnapshot", () => {
       populate(applyChange({ a: 23 }, { b: 33 }));
       expect(subject.child("a/b").val()).to.be.null;
       expect(subject.child("b/c").val()).to.be.null;
+      expect(subject.child("a/b/c").val()).to.be.null;
     });
 
     it("should return a leaf value", () => {
diff --git a/src/common/providers/database.ts b/src/common/providers/database.ts
index 43f977b53..a96c13243 100644
--- a/src/common/providers/database.ts
+++ b/src/common/providers/database.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ export class DataSnapshot implements database.DataSnapshot {
     let source = this._data;
     if (parts.length) {
       for (const part of parts) {
+        if (!source[part]) {
+          return null;
+        }
         source = source[part];
       }
     }