diff --git a/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_utils.py b/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_utils.py
--- a/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -352,6 +352,12 @@
             "http://svn.example.org/repos/test",
             ("external", "http://svn.thirdparty.com/repos/test", None, False),
         ),
+        (
+            ".external http://svn.thirdparty.com/repos/test",
+            "tags",
+            "http://svn.example.org/repos/test",
+            (".external", "http://svn.thirdparty.com/repos/test", None, False),
+        ),
         (
             "external/ http://svn.thirdparty.com/repos/test",
             "tags",
diff --git a/swh/loader/svn/utils.py b/swh/loader/svn/utils.py
--- a/swh/loader/svn/utils.py
+++ b/swh/loader/svn/utils.py
@@ -279,7 +279,8 @@
             path = external_part.replace("\\\\", "\\")
             if path == external_part:
                 path = external_part.replace("\\", "")
-            path = path.lstrip("./")
+            if path.startswith("./"):
+                path = path.replace("./", "", 1)
         prev_part = external_part
     if "@" in external_url:
         # try to extract revision number if external URL is in the form