diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 940b506c..e6a40a12 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ BATS = \
 	test/functional/completion/basic/test.bats \
 	test/functional/hashdump/file-hash/test.bats \
 	test/functional/hashdump/file-hash-no-path-prefix/test.bats \
+	test/functional/mirror/createdir/test.bats \
+	test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/test.bats \
 	test/functional/search/content-check-negfull-path/test.bats \
 	test/functional/search/content-check-neglibtest/test.bats \
 	test/functional/search/content-check-posbin/test.bats \
diff --git a/src/mirror.c b/src/mirror.c
index 6d64aa91..e2d76c46 100644
--- a/src/mirror.c
+++ b/src/mirror.c
@@ -52,53 +52,73 @@ static const struct option prog_opts[] = {
 
 static int unset_mirror_url()
 {
-	char *fullpath;
-	fullpath = mk_full_filename(path_prefix, "/etc/swupd");
+	char *content_path;
+	char *version_path;
+	int ret = 0;
+	content_path = mk_full_filename(path_prefix, MIRROR_CONTENT_URL_PATH);
+	version_path = mk_full_filename(path_prefix, MIRROR_VERSION_URL_PATH);
 
-	if (fullpath == NULL ||
-	    strcmp(fullpath, "/") == 0 ||
-	    strcmp(fullpath, "/etc") == 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Invalid mirror configuration path\n");
-		free_string(&fullpath);
-		return 1;
+	if ((ret = swupd_rm(content_path))) {
+		goto out;
 	}
-	int ret = swupd_rm(fullpath);
-	free_string(&fullpath);
+	if ((ret = swupd_rm(version_path))) {
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+out:
+	free_string(&content_path);
+	free_string(&version_path);
 	return ret;
 }
 
 static int write_to_path(char *content, char *path)
 {
 	char *dir, *tmp = NULL;
+	struct stat dirstat;
 	string_or_die(&tmp, "%s", path);
 	dir = dirname(tmp);
-	/* attempt to  make the directory
-	 * ignore EEXIST errors */
-	int ret = mkdir(dir, S_IRWXU | S_IRGRP | S_IXGRP | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH);
-	char *cmd;
-	string_or_die(&cmd, "mkdir -p %s", dir);
-	ret = system(cmd);
-	free_string(&cmd);
-	free_string(&tmp);
-	if (ret) {
-		return ret;
+
+	/* attempt to make the directory, ok if already exists */
+	int ret = mkdir(dir, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO);
+	if (ret && EEXIST != errno) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "mkdir\n");
+		perror(dir);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	/* Make sure we have a directory, for better user feedback */
+	if ((ret = stat(dir, &dirstat))) {
+		perror(dir);
+		goto out;
+	} else if (!S_ISDIR(dirstat.st_mode)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: not a directory\n", dir);
+		ret = 1;
+		goto out;
 	}
 
 	/* now try to open the file to write */
 	FILE *fp = NULL;
 	fp = fopen(path, "w");
 	if (fp == NULL) {
-		return 1;
+		perror(path);
+		ret = 1;
+		goto out;
 	}
 
 	/* and write to the file */
 	ret = fputs(content, fp);
-	fclose(fp);
 	if (ret < 0 || ret == EOF) {
-		return 1;
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: write failed\n", path);
 	}
 
-	return 0;
+	if ((ret = fclose(fp))) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "fclose\n");
+		perror(path);
+	}
+
+out:
+	free_string(&tmp);
+	return ret;
 }
 
 static int set_mirror_url(char *url)
diff --git a/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/lines-checked b/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/lines-checked
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37b5c676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/lines-checked
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+REGEXP:^swupd-client mirror .*$
+REGEXP:^.*/etc/swupd: not a directory$
+Unable to set mirror url
+Default version URL not found. Use the -v option instead.
diff --git a/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/test.bats b/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/test.bats
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7d776a53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/mirror/createdir-negative/test.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+
+load "../../swupdlib"
+
+setup() {
+  clean_test_dir
+  sudo mkdir -p "$DIR/target-dir/usr/share/defaults/swupd/"
+  echo 4 | sudo tee "$DIR/target-dir/usr/share/defaults/swupd/format"
+  sudo mkdir -p "$DIR/target-dir/etc"
+}
+
+teardown() {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+}
+
+@test "mirror /etc/swupd is a file" {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  sudo touch "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  [[ -f "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd" ]] && ! [[ -L "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd" ]]
+  run sudo sh -c "$SWUPD mirror -s http://example.com/swupd-file $SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR"
+  check_lines "$output"
+}
+
+@test "mirror /etc/swupd is a symlink to a file" {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+  sudo touch "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+  sudo ln -s "$DIR/target-dir/foo" "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  run sudo sh -c "$SWUPD mirror -s http://example.com/swupd-file $SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR"
+  check_lines "$output"
+  sudo rm "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+}
+
+# vi: ft=sh ts=8 sw=2 sts=2 et tw=80
diff --git a/test/functional/mirror/createdir/lines-checked b/test/functional/mirror/createdir/lines-checked
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1035c45b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/mirror/createdir/lines-checked
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+REGEXP:^swupd-client mirror .*$
+Set upstream mirror to http://example.com/swupd-file
+Installed version: -1
+Version URL:       http://example.com/swupd-file
+Content URL:       http://example.com/swupd-file
diff --git a/test/functional/mirror/createdir/test.bats b/test/functional/mirror/createdir/test.bats
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..86d60d29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/functional/mirror/createdir/test.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+
+load "../../swupdlib"
+
+setup() {
+  clean_test_dir
+  sudo mkdir -p "$DIR/target-dir/usr/share/defaults/swupd/"
+  echo 4 | sudo tee "$DIR/target-dir/usr/share/defaults/swupd/format"
+  sudo mkdir -p "$DIR/target-dir/etc"
+}
+
+teardown() {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+}
+
+@test "mirror /etc/swupd does not exist" {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  run sudo sh -c "$SWUPD mirror -s http://example.com/swupd-file $SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR"
+  check_lines "$output"
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_contenturl) ]]
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_versionurl) ]]
+}
+
+@test "mirror /etc/swupd already exists" {
+  sudo mkdir "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  run sudo sh -c "$SWUPD mirror -s http://example.com/swupd-file $SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR"
+  check_lines "$output"
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_contenturl) ]]
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_versionurl) ]]
+}
+
+@test "mirror /etc/swupd is a symlink to a directory" {
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+  sudo mkdir "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+  sudo ln -s "$DIR/target-dir/foo" "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd"
+  run sudo sh -c "$SWUPD mirror -s http://example.com/swupd-file $SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR"
+  check_lines "$output"
+  ! [[ -L "$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd" ]]
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_contenturl) ]]
+  [[ "http://example.com/swupd-file" == $(<$DIR/target-dir/etc/swupd/mirror_versionurl) ]]
+  sudo rm -rf "$DIR/target-dir/foo"
+}
+
+# vi: ft=sh ts=8 sw=2 sts=2 et tw=80
diff --git a/test/functional/swupdlib.bash b/test/functional/swupdlib.bash
index 6559d972..d8094e0b 100644
--- a/test/functional/swupdlib.bash
+++ b/test/functional/swupdlib.bash
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ export SWUPD_OPTS_NO_FMT="-S $STATE_DIR -p $DIR/target-dir -u file://$DIR/web-di
 
 export SWUPD_OPTS_NO_CERT="-S $STATE_DIR -p $DIR/target-dir -F staging -u file://$DIR/web-dir"
 
+export SWUPD_OPTS_MIRROR="-p $DIR/target-dir"
+
 export CERT="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/Swupd_Root.pem"
 
 export CERTCONF="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/certattributes.cnf"