diff --git a/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs b/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
index 5e3b8aa58..f84f00a00 100644
--- a/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
+++ b/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ const TMPDIR_ENV_VAR: &str = "TMPDIR";
 #[cfg(windows)]
 const TMPDIR_ENV_VAR: &str = "TMP";
 
+const FALLBACK_TMPDIR: &str = "/tmp";
+
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 enum MkTempError {
     #[error("{}", translate!("mktemp-error-persist-file", "path" => .0.quote()))]
@@ -119,14 +121,12 @@ impl Options {
                 Some(d) => d.clone(),
                 // Otherwise use $TMPDIR if set, else use the system's default
                 // temporary directory.
-                None => env::var(TMPDIR_ENV_VAR)
-                    .ok()
-                    .map_or_else(env::temp_dir, PathBuf::from),
+                None => get_tmpdir_env_or_default(),
             });
         let (tmpdir, template) = match matches.get_one::<OsString>(ARG_TEMPLATE) {
             // If no template argument is given, `--tmpdir` is implied.
             None => {
-                let tmpdir = Some(tmpdir.unwrap_or_else(env::temp_dir));
+                let tmpdir = Some(tmpdir.unwrap_or_else(get_tmpdir_env_or_default));
                 let template = DEFAULT_TEMPLATE;
                 (tmpdir, OsString::from(template))
             }
@@ -595,6 +595,14 @@ fn exec(dir: &Path, prefix: &str, rand: usize, suffix: &str, make_dir: bool) ->
     Ok(path)
 }
 
+/// Reads from `TMPDIR_ENV_VAR` but defaults to /tmp if value is set to empty string.
+fn get_tmpdir_env_or_default() -> PathBuf {
+    match env::var_os(TMPDIR_ENV_VAR) {
+        Some(val) if val.is_empty() => PathBuf::from(FALLBACK_TMPDIR),
+        _ => env::temp_dir(),
+    }
+}
+
 /// Create a temporary file or directory
 ///
 /// Behavior is determined by the `options` parameter, see [`Options`] for details.
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_mktemp.rs b/tests/by-util/test_mktemp.rs
index cedcb4927..306f147d8 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_mktemp.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_mktemp.rs
@@ -862,6 +862,63 @@ fn test_nonexistent_tmpdir_env_var() {
     }
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_empty_tmpdir_env_var() {
+    #[cfg(not(any(windows, target_os = "android")))]
+    {
+        let result = new_ucmd!().env(TMPDIR, "").succeeds();
+        assert!(result.stdout_str().starts_with("/tmp"));
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(any(windows, target_os = "android"))]
+    {
+        let result = new_ucmd!().env(TMPDIR, "").fails();
+        result.no_stdout();
+        let stderr = result.stderr_str();
+        assert!(
+            stderr.starts_with("mktemp: failed to create file via template"),
+            "{stderr}"
+        );
+        #[cfg(windows)]
+        assert!(
+            stderr.ends_with("/tmp\\tmp.XXXXXXXXXX': No such file or directory\n"),
+            "{stderr}",
+        );
+        #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+        assert!(
+            stderr.ends_with("/tmp/tmp.XXXXXXXXXX': No such file or directory\n"),
+            "{stderr}",
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(not(any(windows, target_os = "android")))]
+    {
+        let result = new_ucmd!().env(TMPDIR, "").arg("-d").succeeds();
+        assert!(result.stdout_str().starts_with("/tmp"));
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(any(windows, target_os = "android"))]
+    {
+        let result = new_ucmd!().env(TMPDIR, "").arg("-d").fails();
+        result.no_stdout();
+        let stderr = result.stderr_str();
+        assert!(
+            stderr.starts_with("mktemp: failed to create directory via template"),
+            "{stderr}"
+        );
+        #[cfg(windows)]
+        assert!(
+            stderr.ends_with("/tmp\\tmp.XXXXXXXXXX': No such file or directory\n"),
+            "{stderr}",
+        );
+        #[cfg(target_os = "android")]
+        assert!(
+            stderr.ends_with("/tmp/tmp.XXXXXXXXXX': No such file or directory\n"),
+            "{stderr}",
+        );
+    }
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_nonexistent_dir_prefix() {
     #[cfg(not(windows))]