diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 54dd7b74..7bcca996 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ Feature release.
   and check files' modification time. This speeds up scanning, escpecially
   when scanning remote file systems over e.g. NFS.
 
+- the ``local scan`` command now creates necessary folders if they don't
+  already exist. Previously, this was only done by the Mopidy server, so doing
+  a ``local scan`` before running the server the first time resulted in a
+  crash. (Fixes: :issue:`703`)
+
 
 v0.18.3 (2014-02-16)
 ====================
diff --git a/mopidy/local/actor.py b/mopidy/local/actor.py
index 61becc72..71b9648e 100644
--- a/mopidy/local/actor.py
+++ b/mopidy/local/actor.py
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import logging
-import os
 
 import pykka
 
 from mopidy import backend
-from mopidy.utils import encoding, path
 
+from . import storage
 from .library import LocalLibraryProvider
 from .playback import LocalPlaybackProvider
 from .playlists import LocalPlaylistsProvider
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ class LocalBackend(pykka.ThreadingActor, backend.Backend):
 
         self.config = config
 
-        self.check_dirs_and_files()
+        storage.check_dirs_and_files(config)
 
         libraries = dict((l.name, l) for l in self.libraries)
         library_name = config['local']['library']
@@ -39,23 +38,3 @@ class LocalBackend(pykka.ThreadingActor, backend.Backend):
         self.playback = LocalPlaybackProvider(audio=audio, backend=self)
         self.playlists = LocalPlaylistsProvider(backend=self)
         self.library = LocalLibraryProvider(backend=self, library=library)
-
-    def check_dirs_and_files(self):
-        if not os.path.isdir(self.config['local']['media_dir']):
-            logger.warning('Local media dir %s does not exist.' %
-                           self.config['local']['media_dir'])
-
-        try:
-            path.get_or_create_dir(self.config['local']['data_dir'])
-        except EnvironmentError as error:
-            logger.warning(
-                'Could not create local data dir: %s',
-                encoding.locale_decode(error))
-
-        # TODO: replace with data dir?
-        try:
-            path.get_or_create_dir(self.config['local']['playlists_dir'])
-        except EnvironmentError as error:
-            logger.warning(
-                'Could not create local playlists dir: %s',
-                encoding.locale_decode(error))
diff --git a/mopidy/local/json.py b/mopidy/local/json.py
index 8f4ec5c0..c2bde99c 100644
--- a/mopidy/local/json.py
+++ b/mopidy/local/json.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import time
 
 import mopidy
 from mopidy import local, models
-from mopidy.local import search, translator
+from mopidy.local import search, storage, translator
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ def write_library(json_file, data):
     data['version'] = mopidy.__version__
     directory, basename = os.path.split(json_file)
 
-    if not os.path.exists(directory):
-        os.makedirs(directory)
-
     # TODO: cleanup directory/basename.* files.
     tmp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
         prefix=basename + '.', dir=directory, delete=False)
@@ -124,6 +121,8 @@ class JsonLibrary(local.Library):
         self._json_file = os.path.join(
             config['local']['data_dir'], b'library.json.gz')
 
+        storage.check_dirs_and_files(config)
+
     def browse(self, uri):
         if not self._browse_cache:
             return []