diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/bdb/BdbModule.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/bdb/BdbModule.java
index 5d854f15..9912dcc4 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/bdb/BdbModule.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/bdb/BdbModule.java
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ public class BdbModule implements Lifecycle, Checkpointable, Closeable {
     }
     
     protected void setup(File f, boolean create) 
-    throws DatabaseException {
+    throws DatabaseException, IOException {
         EnvironmentConfig config = new EnvironmentConfig();
         config.setAllowCreate(create);
         config.setLockTimeout(75, TimeUnit.MINUTES); // set to max
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ public class BdbModule implements Lifecycle, Checkpointable, Closeable {
             config.setConfigParam("je.cleaner.expunge", "false");
         } // else leave whatever other setting was already in place
 
-        f.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(f);
         this.bdbEnvironment = new EnhancedEnvironment(f, config);
         this.classCatalog = this.bdbEnvironment.getClassCatalog();
         if(!create) {
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ public class BdbModule implements Lifecycle, Checkpointable, Closeable {
                 dbBackup.startBackup();
                 
                 File envCpDir = new File(dir.getFile(),checkpointInProgress.getName());
-                envCpDir.mkdirs();
+                org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envCpDir);
                 File logfilesList = new File(envCpDir,"jdbfiles.manifest");
                 String[] filedata = dbBackup.getLogFilesInBackupSet();
                 for (int i=0; i<filedata.length;i++) {
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/checkpointing/Checkpoint.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/checkpointing/Checkpoint.java
index 5f7fc63f..2e5f2a72 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/checkpointing/Checkpoint.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/checkpointing/Checkpoint.java
@@ -78,15 +78,16 @@ public class Checkpoint implements InitializingBean {
      * 
      * @param checkpointsDir
      * @param nextCheckpointNumber
+     * @throws IOException 
      */
-    public void generateFrom(ConfigPath checkpointsDir, int nextCheckpointNumber) {
+    public void generateFrom(ConfigPath checkpointsDir, int nextCheckpointNumber) throws IOException {
         getCheckpointDir().setBase(checkpointsDir);
         getCheckpointDir().setPath(
                 "cp" 
                 + INDEX_FORMAT.format(nextCheckpointNumber) 
                 + "-" 
                 + ArchiveUtils.get14DigitDate());
-        getCheckpointDir().getFile().mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(getCheckpointDir().getFile());
         afterPropertiesSet();
     }
     
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/io/ObjectPlusFilesOutputStream.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/io/ObjectPlusFilesOutputStream.java
index 6af975f0..3449b891 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/io/ObjectPlusFilesOutputStream.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/io/ObjectPlusFilesOutputStream.java
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class ObjectPlusFilesOutputStream extends ObjectOutputStream {
         writeLong(file.length());
         File auxDir = getAuxiliaryDirectory();
         if(!auxDir.exists()) {
-        	auxDir.mkdirs();
+            FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(auxDir);
         }
         File destination = new File(auxDir,name);
         hardlinkOrCopy(file, destination);
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/FileUtils.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/FileUtils.java
index 923ec0ed..595ca475 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/FileUtils.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/FileUtils.java
@@ -672,7 +672,10 @@ public class FileUtils {
     public static File ensureWriteableDirectory(File dir)
     throws IOException {
         if (!dir.exists()) {
-            dir.mkdirs();
+            boolean success = dir.mkdirs();
+            if (!success) {
+                throw new IOException("Failed to create directory: " + dir);
+            }
         } else {
             if (!dir.canWrite()) {
                 throw new IOException("Dir " + dir.getAbsolutePath() +
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/Recorder.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/Recorder.java
index 61167d4f..dd1e58fe 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/Recorder.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/Recorder.java
@@ -120,14 +120,18 @@ public class Recorder {
      */
     public Recorder(File tempDir, String backingFilenameBase, 
             int outBufferSize, int inBufferSize) {
-        this(ensure(new File(tempDir, backingFilenameBase)), 
+        this(new File(ensure(tempDir), backingFilenameBase),
                 outBufferSize, inBufferSize);
-        tempDir.mkdirs();
     }
     
     
     private static File ensure(File tempDir) {
-        tempDir.mkdirs();
+        try {
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tempDir);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+        }
+        
         return tempDir;
     }
     
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TestUtils.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TestUtils.java
index 02a062d3..eb2e5a9f 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TestUtils.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TestUtils.java
@@ -140,10 +140,7 @@ public class TestUtils {
         String tmpDirStr = System.getProperty(TmpDirTestCase.TEST_TMP_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_NAME);
         tmpDirStr = (tmpDirStr == null)? TmpDirTestCase.DEFAULT_TEST_TMP_DIR: tmpDirStr;
         File tmpDir = new File(tmpDirStr);
-        if (!tmpDir.exists())
-        {
-            tmpDir.mkdirs();
-        }
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmpDir);
 
         if (!tmpDir.canWrite())
         {
diff --git a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TmpDirTestCase.java b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TmpDirTestCase.java
index 575a76b4..09ec345b 100644
--- a/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TmpDirTestCase.java
+++ b/commons/src/main/java/org/archive/util/TmpDirTestCase.java
@@ -106,10 +106,7 @@ public abstract class TmpDirTestCase extends TestCase
         String tmpDirStr = System.getProperty(TEST_TMP_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_NAME);
         tmpDirStr = (tmpDirStr == null)? DEFAULT_TEST_TMP_DIR: tmpDirStr;
         File tmpDir = new File(tmpDirStr);
-        if (!tmpDir.exists())
-        {
-            tmpDir.mkdirs();
-        }
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmpDir);
 
         if (!tmpDir.canWrite())
         {
diff --git a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/bdb/StoredQueueTest.java b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/bdb/StoredQueueTest.java
index 615382d0..7e717854 100644
--- a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/bdb/StoredQueueTest.java
+++ b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/bdb/StoredQueueTest.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public class StoredQueueTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
     protected void setUp() throws Exception {
         super.setUp();
         this.envDir = new File(getTmpDir(),"StoredMapTest");
-        this.envDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(this.envDir);
         try {
             EnvironmentConfig envConfig = new EnvironmentConfig();
             envConfig.setTransactional(false);
diff --git a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/settings/file/PrefixFinderTest.java b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/settings/file/PrefixFinderTest.java
index 834e1a6e..e8563b69 100644
--- a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/settings/file/PrefixFinderTest.java
+++ b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/settings/file/PrefixFinderTest.java
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public class PrefixFinderTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
         
         File f = new File(getTmpDir(), "PrefixFinderText");
         FileUtils.deleteQuietly(f);
-        f.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(f);
         Environment bdbEnvironment = new Environment(f, config);
         DatabaseConfig dbConfig = new DatabaseConfig();
         dbConfig.setAllowCreate(true);
diff --git a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/FileUtilsTest.java b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/FileUtilsTest.java
index 0470b81a..19271435 100644
--- a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/FileUtilsTest.java
+++ b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/FileUtilsTest.java
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ public class FileUtilsTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
     protected void setUp() throws Exception {
         super.setUp();
         this.srcDirFile = new File(getTmpDir(), srcDirName);
-        this.srcDirFile.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(srcDirFile);
         this.tgtDirFile = new File(getTmpDir(), tgtDirName);
-        this.tgtDirFile.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tgtDirFile);
         addFiles();
         
         zeroLengthLinesUnix = setUpLinesFile("zeroLengthLinesUnix",0,0,400,IOUtils.LINE_SEPARATOR_UNIX);
diff --git a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest.java b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest.java
index ac746ca4..c95266bb 100644
--- a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest.java
+++ b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest.java
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ public class ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
     
     protected void setUp() throws Exception {
         super.setUp();
-        File envDir = new File(getTmpDir(),"ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest");
-        envDir.mkdirs();
+        File envDir = new File(getTmpDir(),"ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest");
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envDir);
         FileUtils.deleteDirectory(envDir);
-        envDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envDir);
         env = EnhancedEnvironment.getTestEnvironment(envDir); 
         this.cache = new ObjectIdentityBdbCache<IdentityCacheableWrapper<HashMap<String,String>>>();
         this.cache.initialize(env,"setUpCache",IdentityCacheableWrapper.class, env.getClassCatalog());
diff --git a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbManualCacheTest.java b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbManualCacheTest.java
index 14f1153b..77a5eb2f 100644
--- a/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbManualCacheTest.java
+++ b/commons/src/test/java/org/archive/util/ObjectIdentityBdbManualCacheTest.java
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ public class ObjectIdentityBdbManualCacheTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
     
     protected void setUp() throws Exception {
         super.setUp();
-        File envDir = new File(getTmpDir(),"ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest");
-        envDir.mkdirs();
+        File envDir = new File(getTmpDir(),"ObjectIdentityBdbCacheTest");
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envDir);
         FileUtils.deleteDirectory(envDir);
-        envDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envDir);
         env = EnhancedEnvironment.getTestEnvironment(envDir); 
         this.cache = new ObjectIdentityBdbManualCache<IdentityCacheableWrapper<HashMap<String,String>>>();
         this.cache.initialize(env,"setUpCache",IdentityCacheableWrapper.class, env.getClassCatalog());
diff --git a/dist/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/BasicProfileTest.java b/dist/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/BasicProfileTest.java
index 0c1b6ee5..b01f26b5 100644
--- a/dist/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/BasicProfileTest.java
+++ b/dist/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/BasicProfileTest.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class BasicProfileTest extends TmpDirTestCase {
         System.out.println("\nNow testing " + srcDir.getName());
         File tmpDir = new File(getTmpDir(), "validatorTest");
         File configDir = new File(tmpDir, srcDir.getName());
-        configDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(configDir);
         FileUtils.copyDirectory(srcDir, configDir);
 
         PathSharingContext ac = null;
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/ActionDirectory.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/ActionDirectory.java
index 9ef67a2e..447e8b0d 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/ActionDirectory.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/ActionDirectory.java
@@ -151,9 +151,13 @@ public class ActionDirectory implements ApplicationContextAware, Lifecycle, Runn
         if (isRunning()) {
             return;
         }
-        // create directories
-        getActionDir().getFile().mkdirs();
-        getDoneDir().getFile().mkdirs();
+        try {
+            // create directories
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(getActionDir().getFile());
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(getDoneDir().getFile());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+        }
         // start background executor
         executor = Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor();
         executor.scheduleWithFixedDelay(this, getInitialDelaySeconds(), getDelaySeconds(), TimeUnit.SECONDS);
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CheckpointService.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CheckpointService.java
index f6bd4542..c22d45f3 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CheckpointService.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CheckpointService.java
@@ -221,12 +221,12 @@ public class CheckpointService implements Lifecycle, ApplicationContextAware, Ha
             }
         }
         
-        checkpointInProgress = new Checkpoint();
-        checkpointInProgress.generateFrom(getCheckpointsDir(),getNextCheckpointNumber());
-        
         Map<String,Checkpointable> toCheckpoint = appCtx.getBeansOfType(Checkpointable.class);
         
+        checkpointInProgress = new Checkpoint();
         try {
+            checkpointInProgress.generateFrom(getCheckpointsDir(),getNextCheckpointNumber());
+            
             // pre (incl. acquire necessary locks)
 //            long startMs = System.currentTimeMillis();
             for(Checkpointable c : toCheckpoint.values()) {
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/Engine.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/Engine.java
index d861e7fa..7d94f5aa 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/Engine.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/Engine.java
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ public class Engine {
     
     public Engine(File jobsDir) {
         this.jobsDir = jobsDir;
-        this.jobsDir.mkdirs();
+        
+        try {
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(jobsDir);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+        }
         
         findJobConfigs();
         // TODO: cleanup any cruft from improperly ended jobs 
@@ -178,7 +183,7 @@ public class Engine {
      */
     public synchronized void copy(CrawlJob orig, File destDir, boolean asProfile) 
     throws IOException {
-        destDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(destDir);
         if(destDir.list().length>0) {
             throw new IOException("destination dir not empty");
         }
@@ -352,7 +357,7 @@ public class Engine {
             inStream.close();
 
             // write default crawler-beans string to new job dir
-            newJobDir.mkdirs();
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(newJobDir);
             File newJobCxml = new File(newJobDir,"crawler-beans.cxml");
             FileUtils.writeStringToFile(newJobCxml, defaultCxmlStr);
 
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/frontier/precedence/PrecedenceLoader.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/frontier/precedence/PrecedenceLoader.java
index 1b5c9d03..7031b99e 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/frontier/precedence/PrecedenceLoader.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/frontier/precedence/PrecedenceLoader.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.archive.modules.recrawl.PersistProcessor;
 import org.archive.util.ArchiveUtils;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.archive.util.bdbje.EnhancedEnvironment;
 import org.archive.util.iterator.LineReadingIterator;
 
@@ -100,9 +101,7 @@ public class PrecedenceLoader {
             FileNotFoundException, UnsupportedEncodingException, IOException {
         File source = new File(args[0]);
         File env = new File(args[1]);
-        if(!env.exists()) {
-            env.mkdirs();
-        }
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(env);
         
         // setup target environment
         EnhancedEnvironment targetEnv = PersistProcessor.setupCopyEnvironment(env);
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/migrate/MigrateH1to3Tool.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/migrate/MigrateH1to3Tool.java
index 115389a7..5f511b48 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/migrate/MigrateH1to3Tool.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/migrate/MigrateH1to3Tool.java
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public class MigrateH1to3Tool {
         }
         File destinationH3JobDir = new File(destinationH3JobDirArg);
 
-        destinationH3JobDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(destinationH3JobDir);
 
         System.out.println("H1 source: "+sourceOrderXmlFile.getAbsolutePath()); 
         System.out.println("H3 destination: "+destinationH3JobDir.getAbsolutePath());
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/CrawlerLoggerModule.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/CrawlerLoggerModule.java
index 39c648f3..f52df015 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/CrawlerLoggerModule.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/CrawlerLoggerModule.java
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.extractor.UriErrorLoggerModule;
 import org.archive.net.UURI;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
 import org.archive.util.ArchiveUtils;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.context.Lifecycle;
@@ -209,9 +210,9 @@ public class CrawlerLoggerModule
         if(isRunning) {
             return; 
         }
-        getPath().getFile().mkdirs();
         this.atg = AlertThreadGroup.current();
         try {
+            FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(getPath().getFile());
             setupLogs();
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(e);
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/StatisticsTracker.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/StatisticsTracker.java
index 6d56a825..842726f2 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/StatisticsTracker.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/reporting/StatisticsTracker.java
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.seeds.SeedListener;
 import org.archive.modules.seeds.SeedModule;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
 import org.archive.util.ArchiveUtils;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.archive.util.JSONUtils;
 import org.archive.util.MimetypeUtils;
 import org.archive.util.ObjectIdentityCache;
@@ -902,8 +903,8 @@ public class StatisticsTracker
             return f;
         }
         
-        f.getParentFile().mkdirs();
         try {
+            FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(f.getParentFile());
             PrintWriter bw = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(f));
             report.write(bw, this);
             bw.close();
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/BdbUriUniqFilter.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/BdbUriUniqFilter.java
index 7a48bccd..a33836a6 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/BdbUriUniqFilter.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/BdbUriUniqFilter.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import org.archive.bdb.BdbModule;
 import org.archive.checkpointing.Checkpoint;
 import org.archive.checkpointing.Checkpointable;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanNameAware;
@@ -165,9 +166,7 @@ implements Lifecycle, Checkpointable, BeanNameAware {
     public BdbUriUniqFilter(File bdbEnv, final int cacheSizePercentage)
     throws IOException {
         super();
-        if (!bdbEnv.exists()) {
-            bdbEnv.mkdirs();
-        }
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(bdbEnv);
         EnvironmentConfig envConfig = new EnvironmentConfig();
         envConfig.setAllowCreate(true);
         if (cacheSizePercentage > 0 && cacheSizePercentage < 100) {
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/CheckpointUtils.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/CheckpointUtils.java
index 6bff9937..7c4a9bc4 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/CheckpointUtils.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/archive/crawler/util/CheckpointUtils.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
 import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
 
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
+
 /**
  * Utilities useful checkpointing.
  * @author stack
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ public class CheckpointUtils {
     public static void writeObjectToFile(final Object o, final String suffix,
             final File dir)
     throws IOException {
-        dir.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(dir);
         ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(
             new FileOutputStream(getClassCheckpointFile(dir, suffix,
                 o.getClass())));
diff --git a/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CrawlControllerTest.java b/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CrawlControllerTest.java
index 0c2ad523..af39c2d3 100644
--- a/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CrawlControllerTest.java
+++ b/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/framework/CrawlControllerTest.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.net.BdbServerCache;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
 import org.archive.state.ModuleTestBase;
 import org.archive.util.ArchiveUtils;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 
 /**
  * 
@@ -45,9 +46,7 @@ public class CrawlControllerTest extends ModuleTestBase {
             tmpPath = DEFAULT_TEST_TMP_DIR;
         }
         File tmp = new File(tmpPath);
-        if (!tmp.exists()) {
-            tmp.mkdirs();
-        }
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmp);
         
         FileWriter fileWriter = null;
         try {
@@ -59,10 +58,10 @@ public class CrawlControllerTest extends ModuleTestBase {
         }
         
         File state = new File(tmp, "state");
-        state.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(state);
         
         File checkpoints = new File(tmp, "checkpoints");
-        checkpoints.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(checkpoints);
         
         BdbModule bdb = new BdbModule();
         bdb.setDir(new ConfigPath("test",state.getAbsolutePath()));
diff --git a/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/selftest/SelfTestBase.java b/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/selftest/SelfTestBase.java
index 479bc9bf..37260190 100644
--- a/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/selftest/SelfTestBase.java
+++ b/engine/src/test/java/org/archive/crawler/selftest/SelfTestBase.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public abstract class SelfTestBase extends TmpDirTestCase {
         if(profileTemplate.exists()) {
             org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils.copyDirectory(profileTemplate, tmpDefProfile);
         } else {
-            tmpDefProfile.mkdirs();
+            org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmpDefProfile);
         }
         
         // Start up a Jetty that serves the selftest's content directory.
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public abstract class SelfTestBase extends TmpDirTestCase {
         
         // Copy configuration for eg Logging over
         File tmpConfDir = new File(tmpTestDir, "conf");
-        tmpConfDir.mkdirs();
+        org.archive.util.FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmpConfDir);
         File srcConf = new File(src.getParentFile(), "conf");
         FileUtils.copyDirectory(srcConf, tmpConfDir);
 
diff --git a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/recrawl/PersistProcessor.java b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/recrawl/PersistProcessor.java
index 8c1f75f6..e05fe16f 100644
--- a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/recrawl/PersistProcessor.java
+++ b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/recrawl/PersistProcessor.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import org.archive.bdb.BdbModule;
 import org.archive.modules.CrawlURI;
 import org.archive.modules.Processor;
 import org.archive.util.ArchiveUtils;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.archive.util.OneLineSimpleLogger;
 import org.archive.util.SURT;
 import org.archive.util.bdbje.EnhancedEnvironment;
@@ -261,9 +262,7 @@ public abstract class PersistProcessor extends Processor {
 
         if (envFile != null) {
             // set up target environment
-            if (!envFile.exists()) {
-                envFile.mkdirs();
-            }
+            FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(envFile);
             targetEnv = setupCopyEnvironment(envFile);
             classCatalog = targetEnv.getClassCatalog();
             historyDB = targetEnv.openDatabase(null, URI_HISTORY_DBNAME, 
diff --git a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/Kw3WriterProcessor.java b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/Kw3WriterProcessor.java
index ce97f6bd..eee32184 100644
--- a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/Kw3WriterProcessor.java
+++ b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/Kw3WriterProcessor.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.Processor;
 import org.archive.modules.net.CrawlHost;
 import org.archive.modules.net.ServerCache;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 
 /**
@@ -273,7 +274,7 @@ public class Kw3WriterProcessor extends Processor {
       File dir = new File(getPath().getFile(), md5.substring(0, 2) + "/" + host +
               "/current");
       if (!dir.exists()) {
-          dir.mkdirs();
+          FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(dir);
           if (this.chmod)
               chmods(dir, getPath().getFile());
       }
diff --git a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WriterPoolProcessor.java b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WriterPoolProcessor.java
index 4251fcb8..98630702 100644
--- a/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WriterPoolProcessor.java
+++ b/modules/src/main/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WriterPoolProcessor.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.deciderules.recrawl.IdenticalDigestDecideRule;
 import org.archive.modules.net.CrawlHost;
 import org.archive.modules.net.ServerCache;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -440,7 +441,7 @@ implements Lifecycle, Checkpointable, WriterPoolSettings {
             File f = path.getFile();
             if (!f.exists()) {
                 try {
-                    f.mkdirs();
+                    FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(f);
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                     e.printStackTrace();
                     continue;
diff --git a/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/ARCWriterProcessorTest.java b/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/ARCWriterProcessorTest.java
index ddf400e8..9d83cd85 100644
--- a/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/ARCWriterProcessorTest.java
+++ b/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/ARCWriterProcessorTest.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import org.archive.modules.CrawlMetadata;
 import org.archive.modules.ProcessorTestBase;
 import org.archive.modules.fetcher.DefaultServerCache;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.archive.util.TmpDirTestCase;
 
 
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ public class ARCWriterProcessorTest extends ProcessorTestBase {
     protected Object makeModule() throws Exception {
         File tmp = TmpDirTestCase.tmpDir();
         tmp = new File(tmp, "ARCWriterProcessTest");
-        tmp.mkdirs();
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmp);
         
         ARCWriterProcessor result = new ARCWriterProcessor();
         result.setDirectory(new ConfigPath("test",tmp.getAbsolutePath()));
diff --git a/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WARCWriterProcessorTest.java b/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WARCWriterProcessorTest.java
index 3de19b60..8ea8b660 100644
--- a/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WARCWriterProcessorTest.java
+++ b/modules/src/test/java/org/archive/modules/writer/WARCWriterProcessorTest.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import org.archive.net.UURIFactory;
 import org.archive.spring.ConfigPath;
 import org.archive.uid.RecordIDGenerator;
 import org.archive.uid.UUIDGenerator;
+import org.archive.util.FileUtils;
 import org.archive.util.TmpDirTestCase;
 import org.archive.util.anvl.ANVLRecord;
 
@@ -57,8 +58,8 @@ public class WARCWriterProcessorTest extends ProcessorTestBase {
     @Override
     protected Object makeModule() throws Exception {
         File tmp = TmpDirTestCase.tmpDir();
-        tmp = new File(tmp, "ARCWriterProcessTest");
-        tmp.mkdirs();
+        tmp = new File(tmp, "WARCWriterProcessTest");
+        FileUtils.ensureWriteableDirectory(tmp);
 
         WARCWriterProcessor result = new WARCWriterProcessor();
         result.setDirectory(new ConfigPath("test",tmp.getAbsolutePath()));