diff --git a/kitty/dnd.c b/kitty/dnd.c
index 859501ef9..eae6cdeeb 100644
--- a/kitty/dnd.c
+++ b/kitty/dnd.c
@@ -2088,8 +2088,16 @@ add_payload(Window *w, DragRemoteItem *ri, bool has_more, const uint8_t *payload
     if (!has_more && !payload_sz) {  // all data received
         switch (ri->type) {
             case 0:
-                safe_close(ri->fd_plus_one-1, __FILE__, __LINE__);
-                ri->fd_plus_one = 0;
+                if (ri->fd_plus_one) {
+                    safe_close(ri->fd_plus_one - 1, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+                    ri->fd_plus_one = 0;
+                } else {
+                    // Empty file: no data payload was ever received so the file was never opened;
+                    // create it now so that it exists at the expected path for the caller.
+                    int fd = safe_openat(dirfd, ri->dir_entry_name, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, file_permissions);
+                    if (fd < 0) abrt(errno, "could not create empty drag source item file");
+                    safe_close(fd, __FILE__, __LINE__);
+                }
                 break;
             case 1:
                 // Ensure room for the null terminator needed by symlinkat
@@ -2636,6 +2644,27 @@ dnd_test_probe_state(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
         }
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
+    // "drag_remote_item_path:N" returns the full filesystem path for URI item N (0-based)
+    if (strncmp(q, "drag_remote_item_path:", 22) == 0) {
+        size_t uri_idx = (size_t)atoi(q + 22);
+        if (w->drag_source.base_dir_for_remote_items) {
+            for (size_t idx = 0; idx < w->drag_source.num_mimes; idx++) {
+#define mi w->drag_source.items[idx]
+                if (mi.is_uri_list && mi.remote_items && uri_idx < mi.num_remote_items) {
+                    const char *name = mi.remote_items[uri_idx].dir_entry_name;
+                    if (name) {
+                        char path[PATH_MAX + 1];
+                        int n = snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/%zu/%s",
+                            w->drag_source.base_dir_for_remote_items, uri_idx, name);
+                        if (n <= 0 || (size_t)n >= sizeof(path)) Py_RETURN_NONE;
+                        return PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(path, (Py_ssize_t)n);
+                    }
+                }
+#undef mi
+            }
+        }
+        Py_RETURN_NONE;
+    }
     Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty_tests/dnd.py b/kitty_tests/dnd.py
index 9381c4c1c..012647e8b 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/dnd.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/dnd.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2026, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
 
 import errno
+import os
 import re
 from base64 import standard_b64encode
 from contextlib import contextmanager
@@ -2933,6 +2934,11 @@ def test_remote_drag_empty_file(self) -> None:
             parse_bytes(screen, client_remote_file(1, '', item_type=0))
             self._assert_no_output(cap)
             self.assert_drag_data_complete(cap)
+            # Verify the empty file was actually created on disk
+            path = dnd_test_probe_state(cap.window_id, 'drag_remote_item_path:0')
+            self.assertIsNotNone(path, 'empty file path should be known')
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(path), f'empty file must exist on disk: {path}')
+            self.assertEqual(os.path.getsize(path), 0, f'file must be empty: {path}')
 
     def test_remote_drag_empty_directory(self) -> None:
         """Transfer a directory with no entries."""
@@ -2945,6 +2951,26 @@ def test_remote_drag_empty_directory(self) -> None:
             parse_bytes(screen, client_remote_file(1, '', item_type=2))
             self.assert_drag_data_complete(cap)
 
+    def test_remote_drag_dir_with_empty_file(self) -> None:
+        """Directory containing an empty file: the empty child file must be created on disk."""
+        uri_list = b'file:///home/user/mydir\r\n'
+        dir_entries = b'empty_child.txt'
+        with dnd_test_window() as (screen, cap):
+            self._setup_remote_drag(screen, cap, uri_list)
+            b64 = standard_b64encode(dir_entries).decode()
+            parse_bytes(screen, client_remote_file(1, b64, item_type=2))
+            parse_bytes(screen, client_remote_file(1, '', item_type=2))
+            # Send end-of-data for the child with no payload (empty file)
+            parse_bytes(screen, client_remote_file(1, '', item_type=0, parent_handle=2, entry_num=1))
+            self._assert_no_output(cap)
+            self.assert_drag_data_complete(cap)
+            # Verify the empty child file was actually created on disk
+            dir_path = dnd_test_probe_state(cap.window_id, 'drag_remote_item_path:0')
+            self.assertIsNotNone(dir_path, 'dir path should be known')
+            child_path = os.path.join(dir_path, 'empty_child.txt')
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(child_path), f'empty child file must exist on disk: {child_path}')
+            self.assertEqual(os.path.getsize(child_path), 0, f'child file must be empty: {child_path}')
+
     def test_remote_drag_uri_list_with_comments(self) -> None:
         """URI list with comment lines (starting with #) should filter them out."""
         uri_list = b'# this is a comment\r\nfile:///home/user/f.txt\r\n# another comment\r\n'