diff --git a/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc b/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
index 24af2ed..4dc0499 100644
--- a/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
+++ b/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
@@ -123,13 +123,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     //prepare the directories
     param.tmp_dir = tmpnam(nullptr);
+    if(param.debug)
+        cerr << "temporary dir: " << (param.tmp_dir) << endl;
+
     try
     {
         create_directories(param.dest_dir);
         create_directories(param.tmp_dir);
     }
-    catch (...)
+    catch (const string & s)
     {
+        cerr << s << endl;
         return -1;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/util.cc b/src/util.cc
index 51b6c54..e92192c 100644
--- a/src/util.cc
+++ b/src/util.cc
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ const char * base64stream::base64_encoding = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefgh
 
 void create_directories(string path)
 {
+    if(path.empty()) return;
+
     size_t idx = path.rfind('/');
     if(idx != string::npos)
     {