diff --git a/base/path.jl b/base/path.jl
index adeadf0ba7e1c..ca3c0fae6bbbb 100644
--- a/base/path.jl
+++ b/base/path.jl
@@ -214,13 +214,13 @@ function splitpath(p::String)
     out = String[]
     while !isempty(p)
         dir, base = splitdir(p)
-        dir == p && (push!(out, dir); break)  # Reached root node.
+        dir == p && (pushfirst!(out, dir); break)  # Reached root node.
         if !isempty(base)  # Skip trailing '/' in basename
-            push!(out, base)
+            pushfirst!(out, base)
         end
-        p = dir;
+        p = dir
     end
-    return reverse!(out)
+    return out
 end
 
 joinpath(a::AbstractString) = a
diff --git a/base/precompile.jl b/base/precompile.jl
index 91b22d9bc9cf4..4889e1729d20e 100644
--- a/base/precompile.jl
+++ b/base/precompile.jl
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Filesystem.isdir), String})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Filesystem.pwd)})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Filesystem.splitdir), String})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Filesystem.splitext), String})
-precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Filesystem.splitpath), String})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Meta.isexpr), Symbol, Symbol, Int64})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Meta.parse), String})
 precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.Multimedia.display), Int64})
diff --git a/test/path.jl b/test/path.jl
index e222398df3af4..b5a68bc67c5f3 100644
--- a/test/path.jl
+++ b/test/path.jl
@@ -86,34 +86,37 @@
     @test relpath(S(joinpath("foo","bar")), S("foo")) == "bar"
 
     @testset "splitpath" begin
-        @test ["a", "b", "c"] == splitpath(joinpath("a","b","c"))
-        @test [] == splitpath("")
+        @test splitpath(joinpath("a","b","c")) == ["a", "b", "c"]
+        @test splitpath("") == []
 
-        @test ["cats are", "gr8t"] == splitpath(joinpath("cats are", "gr8t"))
-        @test ["  ", " "] == splitpath(joinpath("  ", " "))
+        @test splitpath(joinpath("cats are", "gr8t")) == ["cats are", "gr8t"]
+        @test splitpath(joinpath("  ", " ")) == ["  ", " "]
 
         # Unix-style paths are understood by all systems.
-        @test ["/", "a", "b"] == splitpath("/a/b")
-        @test ["/"] == splitpath("/")
-        @test ["a"] == splitpath("a/")
-        @test ["a", "b"] == splitpath("a/b/")
-        @test ["a.dir", "b.txt"] == splitpath("a.dir/b.txt")
-        @test ["/"] == splitpath("///")
-        @test ["/", "a", "b"] == splitpath("///a///b///")
+        @test splitpath("/a/b") == ["/", "a", "b"]
+        @test splitpath("/") == ["/"]
+        @test splitpath("a/") == ["a"]
+        @test splitpath("a/b/") == ["a", "b"]
+        @test splitpath("a.dir/b.txt") == ["a.dir", "b.txt"]
+        @test splitpath("///") == ["/"]
+        @test splitpath("///a///b///") == ["/", "a", "b"]
 
         if Sys.iswindows()
-            @test ["C:\\", "a", "b", "c"] == splitpath("C:\\\\a\\b\\c")
-            @test ["C:\\"] == splitpath("C:\\\\")
-            @test ["J:\\"] == splitpath("J:\\")
-            @test ["C:"] == splitpath("C:")
-            @test ["a"] == splitpath("a\\")
-            @test ["a","b"] == splitpath("a\\\\b\\\\")
-            @test ["a.dir", "b.txt"] == splitpath("a.dir\\b.txt")
-            @test ["\\", "a","b"] == splitpath("\\a\\b\\")
+            @test splitpath("C:\\\\a\\b\\c") == ["C:\\", "a", "b", "c"]
+            @test splitpath("C:\\\\") == ["C:\\"]
+            @test splitpath("J:\\") == ["J:\\"]
+            @test splitpath("C:") == ["C:"]
+            @test splitpath("C:a") == ["C:"]
+            @test splitpath("C:a\\b") == ["C:"]
 
-            @test ["/", "a", "b", "c", "d", "e"] == splitpath("/a/b\\c/d\\\\e")
-            @test ["/"] == splitpath("/\\/\\")
-            @test ["\\","a","b"] == splitpath("\\/\\a/\\//b")
+            @test splitpath("a\\") == ["a"]
+            @test splitpath("a\\\\b\\\\") == ["a","b"]
+            @test splitpath("a.dir\\b.txt") == ["a.dir", "b.txt"]
+            @test splitpath("\\a\\b\\") == ["\\", "a","b"]
+
+            @test splitpath("/a/b\\c/d\\\\e") == ["/", "a", "b", "c", "d", "e"]
+            @test splitpath("/\\/\\") == ["/"]
+            @test splitpath("\\/\\a/\\//b") == ["\\","a","b"]
         end
     end