diff --git a/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.cpp b/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.cpp
index 4726b3264a4..52cae412877 100644
--- a/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.cpp
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ FolderNavigationWidget::FolderNavigationWidget(QWidget *parent) : QWidget(parent
     m_listView->setEditTriggers(QAbstractItemView::NoEditTriggers);
     m_listView->setDragEnabled(true);
     m_listView->setDragDropMode(QAbstractItemView::DragOnly);
+    m_listView->viewport()->installEventFilter(this);
     showOnlyFirstColumn(m_listView);
     setFocusProxy(m_listView);
 
@@ -521,6 +522,20 @@ void FolderNavigationWidget::syncWithFilePath(const Utils::FilePath &filePath)
     selectFile(filePath);
 }
 
+bool FolderNavigationWidget::eventFilter(QObject *obj, QEvent *event)
+{
+    if (obj == m_listView->viewport()) {
+        if (event->type() == QEvent::MouseButtonPress) {
+            // select the current root when clicking outside any other item
+            auto me = static_cast<QMouseEvent *>(event);
+            const QModelIndex index = m_listView->indexAt(me->pos());
+            if (!index.isValid())
+                m_listView->setCurrentIndex(m_listView->rootIndex());
+        }
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 bool FolderNavigationWidget::autoSynchronization() const
 {
     return m_autoSync;
diff --git a/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.h b/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.h
index dbc3baec370..4cee261369a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.h
+++ b/src/plugins/coreplugin/foldernavigationwidget.h
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ public:
 
     void syncWithFilePath(const Utils::FilePath &filePath);
 
+    bool eventFilter(QObject *obj, QEvent *event) override;
+
 protected:
     void contextMenuEvent(QContextMenuEvent *ev) override;