diff --git a/lib/coffee-script/command.js b/lib/coffee-script/command.js
index 10a20d37..b6ef7de8 100644
--- a/lib/coffee-script/command.js
+++ b/lib/coffee-script/command.js
@@ -427,11 +427,18 @@
         });
       }
     };
-    return mkdirp(jsDir, function(err) {
-      if (!err) {
+    return exists(jsDir, function(itExists) {
+      var _this = this;
+      if (itExists) {
         return compile();
       } else {
-        return exec("mkdir -p " + jsDir, compile);
+        return mkdirp(jsDir, function(err) {
+          if (err) {
+            printLine("Error while creating dir " + jsDir + ": " + err);
+            exec("mkdir -p " + jsDir);
+          }
+          return compile();
+        });
       }
     });
   };
diff --git a/src/command.coffee b/src/command.coffee
index 4c0aabf5..e397cbfa 100644
--- a/src/command.coffee
+++ b/src/command.coffee
@@ -284,8 +284,10 @@ writeJs = (base, sourcePath, js, jsPath, generatedSourceMap = null) ->
       fs.writeFile sourceMapPath, generatedSourceMap, (err) ->
         if err
           printLine "Could not write source map: #{err.message}"
-  mkdirp jsDir, (err) ->
-    unless err then compile() else exec "mkdir -p #{jsDir}", compile
+  exists jsDir, (itExists) ->
+    if itExists then compile() else mkdirp jsDir, (err) => 
+      if err then printLine "Error while creating dir #{jsDir}: #{err}"; exec "mkdir -p #{jsDir}"
+      compile()
 
 # Convenience for cleaner setTimeouts.
 wait = (milliseconds, func) -> setTimeout func, milliseconds