diff --git a/dvr-recover.py b/dvr-recover.py
index 1b324b2..0437c24 100755
--- a/dvr-recover.py
+++ b/dvr-recover.py
@@ -1119,6 +1119,14 @@ def export_file(chunk, index):
             reader.close()
             print
 
+        if not self.export_dir:
+            print "Specify directory for exported files (dvr-recover.py setup export_dir DIR) and rerun"
+            sys.exit(1)
+
+        if not os.path.isdir(self.export_dir):
+            print "Export directory does not exist, creating.."
+            os.makedirs(self.export_dir)
+
         if len(sys.argv) < 3:
             # no special chunk specified -> export all
             index = 1