diff --git a/chainqueue/fs/dir.py b/chainqueue/fs/dir.py
index 37c8fa4..af85c6a 100644
--- a/chainqueue/fs/dir.py
+++ b/chainqueue/fs/dir.py
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ class HexDir:
             fi = os.stat(self.path)
             self.__verify_directory()
         except FileNotFoundError:
-            HexDir.__setup_directory(self.path)
-        if not stat.S_ISDIR(fi.st_mode):
-            raise ValueError('{} is not a directory'.format(self.path))
+            HexDir.__prepare_directory(self.path)
         self.master_file = os.path.join(self.path, 'master')
 
 
@@ -92,6 +90,10 @@ class HexDir:
 
 
     def __verify_directory(self):
+        #if not stat.S_ISDIR(fi.st_mode):
+        #    raise ValueError('{} is not a directory'.format(self.path))
+        f = opendir(self.path)
+        f.close()
         return True
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_hexdir.py b/tests/test_hexdir.py
index e507d14..9587d1f 100644
--- a/tests/test_hexdir.py
+++ b/tests/test_hexdir.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class HexDirTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.dir = tempfile.mkdtemp() 
-        self.hexdir = HexDir(self.dir, 4, 3, 2)
+        self.hexdir = HexDir(os.path.join(self.dir, 'q'), 4, 3, 2)
         logg.debug('setup hexdir root {}'.format(self.dir))
       
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class HexDirTest(unittest.TestCase):
         prefix = b'ab'
         label = b'\xde\xad\xbe\xef'
         self.hexdir.add(label, content, prefix=prefix)
-        file_path = os.path.join(self.dir, 'DE', 'AD', 'BE', label.hex().upper())
+        file_path = os.path.join(self.dir, 'q', 'DE', 'AD', 'BE', label.hex().upper())
         
         f = open(file_path, 'rb')
         r = f.read()