diff --git a/scripts/jcs b/scripts/jcs
index c42ebdeb..b1406f3c 100644
--- a/scripts/jcs
+++ b/scripts/jcs
@@ -1550,7 +1550,6 @@ while read CMD ARG1 ARG2 ARG3 ARG4 ARG5 ARGN ; do
 	case "$CMD" in
 		USER)
 			test -n "$USERFILE" && grep -e "^ *$ARG1 *$" $USERFILE >/dev/null || continue
-			mkdir -p $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
 			if ! grep -e "^$ARG1:" /etc/passwd >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then 
 				echo -n adding user $ARG1, uid $ARG2, dir $ARG3, \
 					groups $ARG4 $ARG5 $REST ..." "
@@ -1565,8 +1564,11 @@ while read CMD ARG1 ARG2 ARG3 ARG4 ARG5 ARGN ; do
 				done
 				NEWGRPS=`echo $NEWGRPS | sed -e 's/^ *,//'`
 				useradd -u $ARG2 -d $ARG3 -g $ARG4 -G $NEWGRPS $ARG1
-				chown $ARG1 $ARG3 $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
-				chgrp $ARG4 $ARG3 $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
+				[ -d $ARG3 ] || {
+					mkdir -p $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
+					chown $ARG1 $ARG3 $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
+					chgrp $ARG4 $ARG3 $ARG3/dat $ARG3/local
+				}
 				echo done
 			else 
 				echo -n user $ARG1 already exists on this system