GNU bash, version 4.2.24(1)-release (i686-pc-linux-gnu) Take the following example, assumed to be run in an empty directory:
$ mkdir a $ echo ** a $ echo **/** a a $ echo **/**/** a a a I would expect the result to be just 'a' in all cases. You also get back a null filename, as shown by $ for f in **/**/**; do echo "'$f'"; done '' 'a' 'a' 'a' /Ulf