@@ -588,11 +588,16 @@
 	  (debug:print 0 "WARNING: linktree did not exist! Creating it now at " linktree)
 	  (create-directory linktree #t))) ;; (system (conc "mkdir -p " linktree))))
     ;; create the directory for the tests dir links, this is needed no matter what...
     (if (and (not (directory-exists? lnkbase))
 	     (not (file-exists? lnkbase)))
-	(create-directory lnkbase #t))
+	(handle-exceptions
+	 exn
+	 (begin
+	   (debug:print "ERROR: Problem creating linktree base at " lnkbase)
+	   (print-error-message exn (current-error-port)))
+	 (create-directory lnkbase #t)))
     
     ;; update the toptest record with its location rundir, cache the path
     ;; This wass highly inefficient, one db write for every subtest, potentially
     ;; thousands of unnecessary updates, cache the fact it was set and don't set it 
     ;; again.