diff --git a/app/ghcup/Main.hs b/app/ghcup/Main.hs
index 4bce381..cc0327a 100644
--- a/app/ghcup/Main.hs
+++ b/app/ghcup/Main.hs
@@ -1095,10 +1095,10 @@ Report bugs at <https://gitlab.haskell.org/haskell/ghcup-hs/issues>|]
     >>= \opt@Options {..} -> do
           dirs <- getDirs
 
-          (settings, keybindings) <- toSettings opt
-
           -- create ~/.ghcup dir
-          createDirRecursive' (baseDir dirs)
+          ensureDirectories dirs
+
+          (settings, keybindings) <- toSettings opt
 
           -- logger interpreter
           logfile <- initGHCupFileLogging (logsDir dirs)
diff --git a/lib/GHCup.hs b/lib/GHCup.hs
index a301d94..2c51c6d 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup.hs
@@ -661,7 +661,6 @@ setGHC ver sghc = do
 
   -- symlink destination
   AppState { dirs = Dirs {..} } <- lift ask
-  liftIO $ createDirRecursive' binDir
 
   -- first delete the old symlinks (this fixes compatibility issues
   -- with old ghcup)
@@ -744,7 +743,6 @@ setCabal ver = do
 
   -- symlink destination
   AppState {dirs = Dirs {..}} <- lift ask
-  liftIO $ createDirRecursive' binDir
 
   whenM (liftIO $ not <$> doesFileExist (binDir </> targetFile))
     $ throwE
@@ -775,7 +773,6 @@ setHLS :: ( MonadCatch m
        -> Excepts '[NotInstalled] m ()
 setHLS ver = do
   AppState { dirs = Dirs {..} } <- lift ask
-  liftIO $ createDirRecursive' binDir
 
   -- Delete old symlinks, since these might have different ghc versions than the
   -- selected version, so we could end up with stray or incorrect symlinks.
@@ -818,7 +815,6 @@ setStack ver = do
 
   -- symlink destination
   AppState {dirs = Dirs {..}} <- lift ask
-  liftIO $ createDirRecursive' binDir
 
   whenM (liftIO $ not <$> doesFileExist (binDir </> targetFile))
     $ throwE
diff --git a/lib/GHCup/Download.hs b/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
index 305f258..76a5d30 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
@@ -227,7 +227,6 @@ getBase dirs@Dirs{..} Settings{ downloader }  =
           else -- access in less than 5 minutes, re-use file
                liftIO $ L.readFile json_file
       else do
-        liftIO $ createDirRecursive' cacheDir
         getModTime >>= \case
           Just modTime -> dlWithMod modTime json_file
           Nothing -> do
diff --git a/lib/GHCup/Utils.hs b/lib/GHCup/Utils.hs
index b3bd570..c95818a 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup/Utils.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup/Utils.hs
@@ -1075,3 +1075,21 @@ ensureGlobalTools = do
 #else
   pure ()
 #endif
+
+
+-- | Ensure ghcup directory structure exists.
+ensureDirectories :: Dirs -> IO ()
+ensureDirectories dirs = do
+  let Dirs
+        { baseDir
+        , binDir
+        , cacheDir
+        , logsDir
+        , confDir
+        } = dirs
+  createDirRecursive' baseDir
+  createDirRecursive' binDir
+  createDirRecursive' cacheDir
+  createDirRecursive' logsDir
+  createDirRecursive' confDir
+  pure ()
diff --git a/lib/GHCup/Utils/Logger.hs b/lib/GHCup/Utils/Logger.hs
index 7c91f3a..cbeb6c5 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup/Utils/Logger.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup/Utils/Logger.hs
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import           Control.Monad.IO.Class
 import           Control.Monad.Logger
 import           Prelude                 hiding ( appendFile )
 import           System.Console.Pretty
-import           System.Directory        hiding ( findFiles )
 import           System.FilePath
 import           System.IO.Error
 import           Text.Regex.Posix
@@ -70,7 +69,6 @@ initGHCupFileLogging :: (MonadIO m) => FilePath -> m FilePath
 initGHCupFileLogging logsDir = do
   let logfile = logsDir </> "ghcup.log"
   liftIO $ do
-    createDirectoryIfMissing True logsDir
     logFiles <- findFiles
       logsDir
       (makeRegexOpts compExtended