diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index a50a61a197..8177c3a744 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1031,8 +1031,9 @@ int adjust_shared_perm(const char *path);
 
 /*
  * Create the directory containing the named path, using care to be
- * somewhat safe against races.  Return one of the scld_error values
- * to indicate success/failure.
+ * somewhat safe against races. Return one of the scld_error values to
+ * indicate success/failure. On error, set errno to describe the
+ * problem.
  *
  * SCLD_VANISHED indicates that one of the ancestor directories of the
  * path existed at one point during the function call and then
diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index 10395e7e4b..ae8f0b4195 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -137,8 +137,10 @@ enum scld_error safe_create_leading_directories(char *path)
 		*slash = '\0';
 		if (!stat(path, &st)) {
 			/* path exists */
-			if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
+			if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+				errno = ENOTDIR;
 				ret = SCLD_EXISTS;
+			}
 		} else if (mkdir(path, 0777)) {
 			if (errno == EEXIST &&
 			    !stat(path, &st) && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))