diff --git a/etc/settings.csh b/etc/settings.csh
index 764fdfe1bf..32034a72d5 100644
--- a/etc/settings.csh
+++ b/etc/settings.csh
@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@ case OPENMPI:
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     setenv FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN $FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -144,6 +147,9 @@ case LAM:
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     setenv FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN $FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -157,6 +163,9 @@ case MPICH:
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     setenv FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN $FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -171,6 +180,9 @@ case MPICH-GM:
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
     _foamAddLib  $GM_LIB_PATH
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     setenv FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN $FOAM_LIBBIN/mpich-gm
     breaksw
@@ -191,6 +203,8 @@ default:
 endsw
 
 _foamAddLib $FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN
+# before compiling, this directory may not exist:
+_foamMkDir  $FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN
 
 
 # Set the minimum MPI buffer size (used by all platforms except SGI MPI)
diff --git a/etc/settings.sh b/etc/settings.sh
index a5d9903ffb..71224114af 100644
--- a/etc/settings.sh
+++ b/etc/settings.sh
@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ OPENMPI)
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     export FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN=$FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -174,6 +176,8 @@ LAM)
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     export FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN=$FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -187,6 +191,8 @@ MPICH)
 
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     export FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN=$FOAM_LIBBIN/$mpi_version
     unset mpi_version
@@ -201,6 +207,8 @@ MPICH-GM)
     _foamAddPath $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin
     _foamAddLib  $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
     _foamAddLib  $GM_LIB_PATH
+    # before compiling, these directories may not exist:
+    _foamMkDir   $MPI_ARCH_PATH/bin $MPI_ARCH_PATH/lib
 
     export FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN=$FOAM_LIBBIN/mpich-gm
     ;;
@@ -221,6 +229,8 @@ MPI)
 esac
 
 _foamAddLib $FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN
+# before compiling, this directory may not exist:
+_foamMkDir  $FOAM_MPI_LIBBIN
 
 
 # Set the minimum MPI buffer size (used by all platforms except SGI MPI)
@@ -241,7 +251,8 @@ export MPI_BUFFER_SIZE
 
 # Switch on the hoard memory allocator if available
 # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-#if [ -f $FOAM_LIBBIN/libhoard.so ]; then
+#if [ -f $FOAM_LIBBIN/libhoard.so ]
+#then
 #    export LD_PRELOAD=$FOAM_LIBBIN/libhoard.so:$LD_PRELOAD
 #fi