diff --git a/bin/autojump b/bin/autojump
index 5dfa7ca..586bb20 100755
--- a/bin/autojump
+++ b/bin/autojump
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from __future__ import division, print_function
 
 import collections
 import difflib
+import errno
 import math
 import operator
 import os
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ import shutil
 import sys
 import tempfile
 
+
 try:
     import argparse
 except ImportError:
@@ -39,6 +41,15 @@ except ImportError:
     import autojump_argparse as argparse
     sys.path.pop()
 
+
+def create_dir_atomically(path):
+    try:
+        os.makedirs(path)
+    except OSError as exception:
+        if exception.errno != errno.EEXIST:
+            raise
+
+
 class Database:
     """
     Abstraction for interfacing with with autojump database file.
@@ -96,7 +107,11 @@ class Database:
         if ((not os.path.exists(self.filename)) or
                 os.name == 'nt' or
                 os.getuid() == os.stat(self.filename)[4]):
-            temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=self.config['data'],
+
+            create_dir_atomically(self.config['data'])
+
+            temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
+                    dir=self.config['data'],
                     delete=False)
 
             for path, weight in sorted(self.data.items(),
@@ -196,7 +211,7 @@ class Database:
 def set_defaults():
     config = {}
 
-    config['version'] = 'release-v21.7.0'
+    config['version'] = 'release-v21.7.1'
     config['max_paths'] = 1000
     config['separator'] = '__'
     config['home'] = os.path.expanduser('~')