diff --git a/app/ghcup/Main.hs b/app/ghcup/Main.hs
index 4483bf3..e4ccd50 100644
--- a/app/ghcup/Main.hs
+++ b/app/ghcup/Main.hs
@@ -493,6 +493,10 @@ main = do
     >>= \opt@Options {..} -> do
           let settings = toSettings opt
 
+          -- create ~/.ghcup dir
+          ghcdir <- ghcupBaseDir
+          createDirIfMissing newDirPerms ghcdir
+
           -- logger interpreter
           logfile <- initGHCupFileLogging [rel|ghcup.log|]
           let runLogger = myLoggerT LoggerConfig
@@ -588,10 +592,6 @@ main = do
                       , DownloadFailed
                       ]
 
-          -- create ~/.ghcup dir
-          ghcdir <- ghcupBaseDir
-          createDirIfMissing newDirPerms ghcdir
-
           dls <-
             ( runLogger
               . flip runReaderT settings
diff --git a/lib/GHCup/Download.hs b/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
index 7e15f4f..bbf2428 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup/Download.hs
@@ -135,13 +135,10 @@ getDownloads urlSource = do
                L.ByteString
   smartDl uri' = do
     let path = view pathL' uri'
-    json_file <- (liftIO $ ghcupCacheDir)
-      >>= \cacheDir -> (cacheDir </>) <$> urlBaseName path
+    cacheDir <- liftIO $ ghcupCacheDir
+    json_file <- (cacheDir </>) <$> urlBaseName path
     e <-
-      liftIO
-      $ HIO.handleIOError
-          (\e -> if isDoesNotExistError e then pure False else throwIO e)
-      $ doesFileExist json_file
+      liftIO $ doesFileExist json_file
     if e
       then do
         accessTime <-
@@ -168,6 +165,7 @@ getDownloads urlSource = do
           else -- access in less than 5 minutes, re-use file
                liftIO $ readFile json_file
       else do
+        liftIO $ createDirIfMissing newDirPerms cacheDir
         getModTime >>= \case
           Just modTime -> do
             bs <- liftE $ downloadBS uri'