diff --git a/src/mu-msg-part.c b/src/mu-msg-part.c
index 8f429ad1..6ead9257 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-part.c
+++ b/src/mu-msg-part.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ mu_msg_part_filepath_cache (MuMsg *msg, guint partid)
 				   g_str_hash (path), G_DIR_SEPARATOR,
 				   partid);
 		
-	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe (dirname, 0700)) {
+	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe (dirname, 0700, FALSE)) {
 		g_free (dirname);
 		return NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/src/mu-runtime.c b/src/mu-runtime.c
index f0a24f1d..4f6d7839 100644
--- a/src/mu-runtime.c
+++ b/src/mu-runtime.c
@@ -55,18 +55,6 @@ static gboolean    init_paths (const char* muhome, MuRuntimeData *data);
 static const char* runtime_path (MuRuntimePath path);
 
 
-static gboolean
-mu_dir_is_readable_and_writable (const char *muhome)
-{
-	if (mu_util_create_dir_maybe (muhome, 0700))
-		return TRUE;
-	
-	g_warning ("cannot use '%s' as a mu homedir", muhome);
-	g_warning ("use --muhome= to set a different one");
-	
-	return FALSE;
-}
-
 static gboolean
 init_log (const char *muhome, const char *name,
 	  gboolean log_stderr, gboolean quiet, gboolean debug)
@@ -107,7 +95,9 @@ mu_runtime_init (const char* muhome_arg, const char *name)
 	else
 		muhome = mu_util_guess_mu_homedir ();
 
-	if (!mu_dir_is_readable_and_writable (muhome)) {
+	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe (muhome, 0700, TRUE)) {
+		g_printerr ("mu: invalid mu homedir specified;"
+			    " use --muhome=<dir>\n");
 		runtime_free ();
 		return FALSE;
 	}
@@ -143,8 +133,10 @@ mu_runtime_init_from_cmdline (int *pargc, char ***pargv, const char *name)
 		runtime_free ();
 		return FALSE;
 	 }
-	
-	if (!mu_dir_is_readable_and_writable (_data->_config->muhome)) {
+
+	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe (_data->_config->muhome, 0700, TRUE)) {
+		g_printerr ("mu: invalid mu homedir specified;"
+			    " use --muhome=<dir>\n");
 		runtime_free ();
 		return FALSE;
 	}
@@ -198,13 +190,13 @@ static gboolean
 create_dirs_maybe (MuRuntimeData *data)
 {
 	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe
-	    (data->_str[MU_RUNTIME_PATH_CACHE], 0700)) {
+	    (data->_str[MU_RUNTIME_PATH_CACHE], 0700, TRUE)) {
 		g_warning ("failed to create cache dir");
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 
 	if (!mu_util_create_dir_maybe
-	    (data->_str[MU_RUNTIME_PATH_LOG], 0700)) {
+	    (data->_str[MU_RUNTIME_PATH_LOG], 0700, TRUE)) {
 		g_warning ("failed to create log dir");
 		return FALSE;
 	}