diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index c67ccd7d4..2edb56510 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "signals.hh"
 #include "users.hh"
 
+#include <filesystem>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
 using json = nlohmann::json;
@@ -1303,7 +1304,7 @@ ref<Store> openStore(StoreReference && storeURI)
                 if (!pathExists(chrootStore)) {
                     try {
                         createDirs(chrootStore);
-                    } catch (Error & e) {
+                    } catch (SystemError & e) {
                         return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params);
                     }
                     warn("'%s' does not exist, so Nix will use '%s' as a chroot store", stateDir, chrootStore);
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 9d6142556..443ccf829 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -413,30 +413,13 @@ void deletePath(const fs::path & path)
 }
 
 
-Paths createDirs(const Path & path)
+void createDirs(const Path & path)
 {
-    Paths created;
-    if (path == "/") return created;
-
-    struct stat st;
-    if (STAT(path.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
-        created = createDirs(dirOf(path));
-        if (mkdir(path.c_str()
-#ifndef _WIN32 // TODO abstract mkdir perms for Windows
-            , 0777
-#endif
-            ) == -1 && errno != EEXIST)
-            throw SysError("creating directory '%1%'", path);
-        st = STAT(path);
-        created.push_back(path);
+    try {
+        fs::create_directories(path);
+    } catch (fs::filesystem_error & e) {
+        throw SysError("creating directory '%1%'", path);
     }
-
-    if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) && stat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-        throw SysError("statting symlink '%1%'", path);
-
-    if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) throw Error("'%1%' is not a directory", path);
-
-    return created;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.hh b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
index c6b6ecedb..9405cda0c 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
@@ -148,11 +148,10 @@ void deletePath(const std::filesystem::path & path);
 void deletePath(const std::filesystem::path & path, uint64_t & bytesFreed);
 
 /**
- * Create a directory and all its parents, if necessary.  Returns the
- * list of created directories, in order of creation.
+ * Create a directory and all its parents, if necessary.
  */
-Paths createDirs(const Path & path);
-inline Paths createDirs(PathView path)
+void createDirs(const Path & path);
+inline void createDirs(PathView path)
 {
     return createDirs(Path(path));
 }