diff --git a/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc b/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
index 254a86d7b..eb4361e25 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ ReadlineLikeInteracter::Guard ReadlineLikeInteracter::init(detail::ReplCompleter
     rl_readline_name = "nix-repl";
     try {
         createDirs(dirOf(historyFile));
-    } catch (std::filesystem::filesystem_error & e) {
-        warn(e.what());
+    } catch (SystemError & e) {
+        logWarning(e.info());
     }
 #ifndef USE_READLINE
     el_hist_size = 1000;
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index ed5275377..2edb56510 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -1304,7 +1304,7 @@ ref<Store> openStore(StoreReference && storeURI)
                 if (!pathExists(chrootStore)) {
                     try {
                         createDirs(chrootStore);
-                    } catch (std::filesystem::filesystem_error & e) {
+                    } catch (SystemError & e) {
                         return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params);
                     }
                     warn("'%s' does not exist, so Nix will use '%s' as a chroot store", stateDir, chrootStore);
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 5f269b7c0..443ccf829 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -415,7 +415,11 @@ void deletePath(const fs::path & path)
 
 void createDirs(const Path & path)
 {
-    fs::create_directories(path);
+    try {
+        fs::create_directories(path);
+    } catch (fs::filesystem_error & e) {
+        throw SysError("creating directory '%1%'", path);
+    }
 }