diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
index 9e94e63ba4..10a5abd155 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
@@ -608,43 +608,11 @@ bool ApplicationV8::prepare () {
     LOGGER_INFO("JavaScript using " << StringUtils::join(paths, ", "));
   }
   
-  // check whether app-paths exist
-  if (! _appPath.empty()) {
-    if (! FileUtils::isDirectory(_appPath.c_str())) {
-      LOGGER_ERROR("specified app-path '" << _appPath << "' does not exist.");
-      // TODO: decide if we want to abort server start here
-    }
-    else {
-      const string databasesPath = _appPath + TRI_DIR_SEPARATOR_CHAR + "databases";
-
-      if (! FileUtils::isDirectory(databasesPath.c_str())) {
-        LOGGER_ERROR("required app-path sub-directory '" << databasesPath << "' does not exist.");
-      }
-      
-      const string systemPath = _appPath + TRI_DIR_SEPARATOR_CHAR + "system";
-      if (! FileUtils::isDirectory(systemPath.c_str())) {
-        LOGGER_ERROR("required app-path sub-directory '" << systemPath << "' does not exist.");
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  else {
+  // check whether app-path was specified
+  if (_appPath.empty()) {
     LOGGER_FATAL_AND_EXIT("no value has been specified for --javascript.app-path.");
   }
 
-  if (! _devAppPath.empty()) {
-    if (! _performUpgrade && ! FileUtils::isDirectory(_devAppPath.c_str())) {
-      LOGGER_ERROR("specified dev-app-path '" << _devAppPath << "' does not exist.");
-      // TODO: decide if we want to abort server start here
-    }
-    else {
-      const string databasesPath = _devAppPath + TRI_DIR_SEPARATOR_CHAR + "databases";
-
-      if (! _performUpgrade && ! FileUtils::isDirectory(databasesPath.c_str())) {
-        LOGGER_ERROR("required dev-app-path sub-directory '" << databasesPath << "' does not exist.");
-      }
-    }
-  }
- 
   if (_packagePath.empty()) {
     LOGGER_ERROR("--javascript.package-path option was not specified. this may cause follow-up errors.");
     // TODO: decide if we want to abort server start here
diff --git a/arangod/VocBase/server.c b/arangod/VocBase/server.c
index 59f23aae4c..8dab2c15b5 100644
--- a/arangod/VocBase/server.c
+++ b/arangod/VocBase/server.c
@@ -1844,7 +1844,48 @@ int TRI_StartServer (TRI_server_t* server,
   // .............................................................................
   // create shared application directories
   // .............................................................................
-    
+
+  if (server->_appPath != NULL && 
+      strlen(server->_appPath) > 0 &&
+      ! TRI_IsDirectory(server->_appPath)) {
+    if (! isUpgrade) {
+      LOG_ERROR("specified --javascript.app-path directory '%s' does not exist. "
+                "Please start again with --upgrade option to create it.", 
+                server->_appPath);
+      return TRI_ERROR_BAD_PARAMETER;
+    }
+
+    res = TRI_CreateDirectory(server->_appPath);
+
+    if (res != TRI_ERROR_NO_ERROR) {
+      LOG_ERROR("unable to create --javascript.app-path directory '%s': %s", 
+                server->_appPath, 
+                TRI_errno_string(res));
+      return res;
+    }
+  }
+  
+  if (server->_devAppPath != NULL && 
+      strlen(server->_devAppPath) > 0 &&
+      ! TRI_IsDirectory(server->_devAppPath)) {
+    if (! isUpgrade) {
+      LOG_ERROR("specified --javascript.dev-app-path directory '%s' does not exist. "
+                "Please start again with --upgrade option to create it.", 
+                server->_devAppPath);
+      return TRI_ERROR_BAD_PARAMETER;
+    }
+
+    res = TRI_CreateDirectory(server->_devAppPath);
+
+    if (res != TRI_ERROR_NO_ERROR) {
+      LOG_ERROR("unable to create --javascript.dev-app-path directory '%s': %s", 
+                server->_devAppPath, 
+                TRI_errno_string(res));
+      return res;
+    }
+  }
+   
+  // create subdirectories if not yet present 
   res = CreateBaseApplicationDirectory(server->_appPath, "databases");
 
   if (res == TRI_ERROR_NO_ERROR) {