diff --git a/Lib/tkinter/filedialog.py b/Lib/tkinter/filedialog.py
index e2eff98e601c07..bf7e406d1dc464 100644
--- a/Lib/tkinter/filedialog.py
+++ b/Lib/tkinter/filedialog.py
@@ -311,6 +311,10 @@ def _fixoptions(self):
             pass
 
     def _fixresult(self, widget, result):
+        # gh-103878: empty string from Tcl may have non-string type
+        if result in ((), b''):
+            result = ''
+
         if result:
             # keep directory and filename until next time
             # convert Tcl path objects to strings
@@ -335,6 +339,10 @@ class Open(_Dialog):
     command = "tk_getOpenFile"
 
     def _fixresult(self, widget, result):
+        # gh-103878: empty string from Tcl may have non-string type
+        if result in ((), b''):
+            result = ''
+
         if isinstance(result, tuple):
             # multiple results:
             result = tuple([getattr(r, "string", r) for r in result])
@@ -362,6 +370,10 @@ class Directory(commondialog.Dialog):
     command = "tk_chooseDirectory"
 
     def _fixresult(self, widget, result):
+        # gh-103878: empty string from Tcl may have non-string type
+        if result in ((), b''):
+            result = ''
+
         if result:
             # convert Tcl path objects to strings
             try:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2023-10-23-01-00-00.gh-issue-103878.molDay.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2023-10-23-01-00-00.gh-issue-103878.molDay.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..bee021d680016d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2023-10-23-01-00-00.gh-issue-103878.molDay.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Ensure Tkinter file dialogs return ``""`` rather than ``()`` or ``b""``
+when canceled.