diff --git a/src/fetcher.py b/src/fetcher.py
index a863c6f7..3812dfe2 100755
--- a/src/fetcher.py
+++ b/src/fetcher.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from sys import stderr
 
 # pisi modules
 import pisiconfig
+import util
 
 class FetchError (Exception):
     pass
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ class Fetcher:
     def __init__(self, uri):
         self.uri = uri
         self.filedest = pisiconfig.archives_dir
+        util.check_dir(self.filedest)
         self.scheme = "file"
         self.netloc = ""
         self.filepath = ""
diff --git a/src/pisi-build b/src/pisi-build
index cece5a6d..e6285dd9 100644
--- a/src/pisi-build
+++ b/src/pisi-build
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ def main():
 
     # doing the real job... vs. vs...
     pb = PisiBuild(pspec)
-    util.information("Building PISI package for: %s" % pb.packageName)
-    util.information("Fetching source from: %s (be patient)" % pb.archiveUri)
-    print pb.archiveType, pb.archiveHash
+    util.information("Building PISI package for: %s" % pb.spec.sourceName)
+    util.information("Fetching source from: %s (be patient)" % pb.spec.archiveUri)
+    print pb.spec.archiveType, pb.spec.archiveHash
     pb.fetchArchive()
     util.information("Source archive is stored: %s/%s" %(pisiconfig.archives_dir, pb.archiveName))
 #     pb.unpackArchive()
diff --git a/src/pisibuild.py b/src/pisibuild.py
index 88a33b13..68c2e1d8 100644
--- a/src/pisibuild.py
+++ b/src/pisibuild.py
@@ -17,20 +17,15 @@ class PisiBuild:
     """PisiBuild class, provides the package build and creation rutines"""
     def __init__(self, pspecfile):
 	self.pspecfile = pspecfile
-	pspec = SpecFile()
-        pspec.read(pspecfile)
-        pspec.verify()                  # check pspec integrity
+	spec = SpecFile()
+        spec.read(pspecfile)
+        spec.verify()                  # check pspec integrity
 
-	self.packageName = pspec.sourceName
-
-	self.archiveUri = pspec.archiveUri
-	self.archiveName = basename(self.archiveUri)
-	self.archiveType = pspec.archiveType
-	self.archiveHash = pspec.archiveHash
-
-	self.pspec = pspec
+        # additional processing on spec file
+	self.archiveName = basename(spec.archiveUri)
+        self.spec = spec
 
     def fetchArchive(self):
-	fetch = Fetcher(self.archiveUri)
+	fetch = Fetcher(self.spec.archiveUri)
 	fetch.fetch()
 
diff --git a/src/util.py b/src/util.py
index c2d436eb..7ea20fae 100644
--- a/src/util.py
+++ b/src/util.py
@@ -5,6 +5,19 @@ import string
 def information(message):
     print message
 
+# check if directory exists, and create if it doesn't
+# works recursively
+# FIXME: could hav a better name
+def check_dir(dir):
+    dir = dir.rstrip()
+    dir = dir.rstrip("/")
+    #print 'check dir ', dir
+    if not os.access(dir, os.F_OK):
+        # does the parent exist?
+        (parent_dir, curr_dir) = os.path.split(dir)
+        check_dir(parent_dir)
+        os.mkdir(dir)
+
 # run a command non-interactively
 def run_batch(cmd):
     print 'running ', cmd