diff --git a/newfol b/newfol
index a3f6549..4a6053c 100755
--- a/newfol
+++ b/newfol
@@ -159,7 +159,13 @@ def parse_args(args):
             type=int, default=0, help="minimum number of fields per record")
     return parser.parse_args(args)
 
+def ensure_db_dir():
+    path = os.path.expanduser("~/.newfol")
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        os.mkdir(path, 0o777)
+
 def main(args):
+    ensure_db_dir()
     vault = filemanip.FileStorage('csv', os.path.expanduser("~/.newfol/dtb"))
     recs = []
     try: