diff --git a/util/file_allocator.cpp b/util/file_allocator.cpp
index 4465ac1339c..0764936e2f1 100644
--- a/util/file_allocator.cpp
+++ b/util/file_allocator.cpp
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ using namespace mongoutils;
 
 namespace mongo {
 
+    extern string dbpath;
     void ensureParentDirCreated(const boost::filesystem::path& p){
         const boost::filesystem::path parent = p.parent_path();
 
         if (! boost::filesystem::exists(parent)){
+            massert(13624, "dbpath doesn't exist", parent != dbpath);
             ensureParentDirCreated(parent);
             log() << "creating directory " << parent.string() << endl;
             boost::filesystem::create_directory(parent);