diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Localization/ResourceManagerStringLocalizerFactory.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Localization/ResourceManagerStringLocalizerFactory.cs
index 4e3d721bd0..45e11b03cc 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Localization/ResourceManagerStringLocalizerFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Localization/ResourceManagerStringLocalizerFactory.cs
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.Extensions.Localization
             var typeInfo = resourceSource.GetTypeInfo();
             var assembly = typeInfo.Assembly;
 
-            var baseName = _applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName + "." + _resourcesRelativePath + typeInfo.FullName;
+            var baseName = string.IsNullOrEmpty(_resourcesRelativePath)
+                ? typeInfo.FullName
+                : _applicationEnvironment.ApplicationName + "." + _resourcesRelativePath + typeInfo.FullName;
 
             return _localizerCache.GetOrAdd(baseName, _ =>
                 new ResourceManagerStringLocalizer(
diff --git a/test/LocalizationWebsite/LocalizationWebsite.Models.Customer.fr-FR.resx b/test/LocalizationWebsite/Models/Customer.fr-FR.resx
similarity index 98%
rename from test/LocalizationWebsite/LocalizationWebsite.Models.Customer.fr-FR.resx
rename to test/LocalizationWebsite/Models/Customer.fr-FR.resx
index a3a0136dd4..1236654def 100644
--- a/test/LocalizationWebsite/LocalizationWebsite.Models.Customer.fr-FR.resx
+++ b/test/LocalizationWebsite/Models/Customer.fr-FR.resx
@@ -118,6 +118,6 @@
     <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceWriter, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
   </resheader>
   <data name="Hello" xml:space="preserve">
-    <value>Bonjour from Customer in root folder</value>
+    <value>Bonjour from Customer in Models folder</value>
   </data>
 </root>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/LocalizationWebsite/LocalizationWebsite.StartupResourcesAtRootFolder.fr-FR.resx b/test/LocalizationWebsite/StartupResourcesAtRootFolder.fr-FR.resx
similarity index 100%
rename from test/LocalizationWebsite/LocalizationWebsite.StartupResourcesAtRootFolder.fr-FR.resx
rename to test/LocalizationWebsite/StartupResourcesAtRootFolder.fr-FR.resx
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests/LocalizationTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests/LocalizationTest.cs
index 094088840e..27e75f358d 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests/LocalizationTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests/LocalizationTest.cs
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests
                 applicationBaseUrl,
                 "ResourcesAtRootFolder",
                 "fr-FR",
-                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in root folder");
+                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in Models folder");
         }
 
         [ConditionalFact]
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests
                 "http://localhost:5076",
                 "ResourcesAtRootFolder",
                 "fr-FR",
-                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in root folder");
+                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in Models folder");
         }
 
         [ConditionalFact]
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Localization.FunctionalTests
                 "http://localhost:5077/",
                 "ResourcesAtRootFolder",
                 "fr-FR",
-                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in root folder");
+                "Bonjour from StartupResourcesAtRootFolder Bonjour from Test in root folder Bonjour from Customer in Models folder");
         }
     }
 }