diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index cb51916fe3..bcefa52c69 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -488,9 +488,8 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 		} else {
 			char tmpname[PATH_MAX];
 			int fd;
-			snprintf(tmpname, sizeof(tmpname),
-				 "%s/pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX", get_object_directory());
-			fd = xmkstemp(tmpname);
+			fd = odb_mkstemp(tmpname, sizeof(tmpname),
+					 "pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX");
 			pack_tmp_name = xstrdup(tmpname);
 			f = sha1fd(fd, pack_tmp_name);
 		}
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index 3ef3413e69..3748ddf48d 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -817,9 +817,8 @@ static void start_packfile(void)
 	struct pack_header hdr;
 	int pack_fd;
 
-	snprintf(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
-		"%s/pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX", get_object_directory());
-	pack_fd = xmkstemp(tmpfile);
+	pack_fd = odb_mkstemp(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
+			      "pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX");
 	p = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*p) + strlen(tmpfile) + 2);
 	strcpy(p->pack_name, tmpfile);
 	p->pack_fd = pack_fd;
@@ -879,9 +878,8 @@ static char *create_index(void)
 		c = next;
 	}
 
-	snprintf(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
-		"%s/pack/tmp_idx_XXXXXX", get_object_directory());
-	idx_fd = xmkstemp(tmpfile);
+	idx_fd = odb_mkstemp(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
+			     "pack/tmp_idx_XXXXXX");
 	f = sha1fd(idx_fd, tmpfile);
 	sha1write(f, array, 256 * sizeof(int));
 	git_SHA1_Init(&ctx);
@@ -907,9 +905,7 @@ static char *keep_pack(char *curr_index_name)
 	chmod(pack_data->pack_name, 0444);
 	chmod(curr_index_name, 0444);
 
-	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/pack/pack-%s.keep",
-		 get_object_directory(), sha1_to_hex(pack_data->sha1));
-	keep_fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
+	keep_fd = odb_pack_keep(name, sizeof(name), pack_data->sha1);
 	if (keep_fd < 0)
 		die("cannot create keep file");
 	write_or_die(keep_fd, keep_msg, strlen(keep_msg));
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 079cbe9440..dcf4127750 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -303,6 +303,8 @@ extern ssize_t xwrite(int fd, const void *buf, size_t len);
 extern int xdup(int fd);
 extern FILE *xfdopen(int fd, const char *mode);
 extern int xmkstemp(char *template);
+extern int odb_mkstemp(char *template, size_t limit, const char *pattern);
+extern int odb_pack_keep(char *name, size_t namesz, unsigned char *sha1);
 
 static inline size_t xsize_t(off_t len)
 {
diff --git a/index-pack.c b/index-pack.c
index f7a38079e1..7fee872533 100644
--- a/index-pack.c
+++ b/index-pack.c
@@ -172,9 +172,8 @@ static char *open_pack_file(char *pack_name)
 		input_fd = 0;
 		if (!pack_name) {
 			static char tmpfile[PATH_MAX];
-			snprintf(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
-				 "%s/pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX", get_object_directory());
-			output_fd = xmkstemp(tmpfile);
+			output_fd = odb_mkstemp(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
+						"pack/tmp_pack_XXXXXX");
 			pack_name = xstrdup(tmpfile);
 		} else
 			output_fd = open(pack_name, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_RDWR, 0600);
@@ -794,22 +793,24 @@ static void final(const char *final_pack_name, const char *curr_pack_name,
 
 	if (keep_msg) {
 		int keep_fd, keep_msg_len = strlen(keep_msg);
-		if (!keep_name) {
-			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/pack/pack-%s.keep",
-				 get_object_directory(), sha1_to_hex(sha1));
-			keep_name = name;
-		}
-		keep_fd = open(keep_name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
+
+		if (!keep_name)
+			keep_fd = odb_pack_keep(name, sizeof(name), sha1);
+		else
+			keep_fd = open(keep_name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
+
 		if (keep_fd < 0) {
 			if (errno != EEXIST)
-				die("cannot write keep file");
+				die("cannot write keep file '%s' (%s)",
+				    keep_name, strerror(errno));
 		} else {
 			if (keep_msg_len > 0) {
 				write_or_die(keep_fd, keep_msg, keep_msg_len);
 				write_or_die(keep_fd, "\n", 1);
 			}
 			if (close(keep_fd) != 0)
-				die("cannot write keep file");
+				die("cannot close written keep file '%s' (%s)",
+				    keep_name, strerror(errno));
 			report = "keep";
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pack-write.c b/pack-write.c
index b426006c58..7053538f4c 100644
--- a/pack-write.c
+++ b/pack-write.c
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@ char *write_idx_file(char *index_name, struct pack_idx_entry **objects,
 
 	if (!index_name) {
 		static char tmpfile[PATH_MAX];
-		snprintf(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile),
-			 "%s/pack/tmp_idx_XXXXXX", get_object_directory());
-		fd = xmkstemp(tmpfile);
+		fd = odb_mkstemp(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile), "pack/tmp_idx_XXXXXX");
 		index_name = xstrdup(tmpfile);
 	} else {
 		unlink(index_name);
@@ -239,7 +237,7 @@ char *index_pack_lockfile(int ip_out)
 	char packname[46];
 
 	/*
-	 * The first thing we expects from index-pack's output
+	 * The first thing we expect from index-pack's output
 	 * is "pack\t%40s\n" or "keep\t%40s\n" (46 bytes) where
 	 * %40s is the newly created pack SHA1 name.  In the "keep"
 	 * case, we need it to remove the corresponding .keep file
diff --git a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
index 04522857ab..ccfc64c6ee 100755
--- a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
+++ b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
@@ -180,6 +180,23 @@ test_expect_success \
 
 unset GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY
 
+test_expect_success 'survive missing objects/pack directory' '
+	(
+		rm -fr missing-pack &&
+		mkdir missing-pack &&
+		cd missing-pack &&
+		git init &&
+		GOP=.git/objects/pack
+		rm -fr $GOP &&
+		git index-pack --stdin --keep=test <../test-3-${packname_3}.pack &&
+		test -f $GOP/pack-${packname_3}.pack &&
+		test_cmp $GOP/pack-${packname_3}.pack ../test-3-${packname_3}.pack &&
+		test -f $GOP/pack-${packname_3}.idx &&
+		test_cmp $GOP/pack-${packname_3}.idx ../test-3-${packname_3}.idx &&
+		test -f $GOP/pack-${packname_3}.keep
+	)
+'
+
 test_expect_success \
     'verify pack' \
     'git verify-pack	test-1-${packname_1}.idx \
diff --git a/wrapper.c b/wrapper.c
index c85ca52ec6..b07cdf299a 100644
--- a/wrapper.c
+++ b/wrapper.c
@@ -256,3 +256,35 @@ int git_inflate(z_streamp strm, int flush)
 	error("inflate: %s (%s)", err, strm->msg ? strm->msg : "no message");
 	return ret;
 }
+
+int odb_mkstemp(char *template, size_t limit, const char *pattern)
+{
+	int fd;
+
+	snprintf(template, limit, "%s/%s",
+		 get_object_directory(), pattern);
+	fd = mkstemp(template);
+	if (0 <= fd)
+		return fd;
+
+	/* slow path */
+	safe_create_leading_directories(template);
+	snprintf(template, limit, "%s/%s",
+		 get_object_directory(), pattern);
+	return xmkstemp(template);
+}
+
+int odb_pack_keep(char *name, size_t namesz, unsigned char *sha1)
+{
+	int fd;
+
+	snprintf(name, namesz, "%s/pack/pack-%s.keep",
+		 get_object_directory(), sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+	fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
+	if (0 <= fd)
+		return fd;
+
+	/* slow path */
+	safe_create_leading_directories(name);
+	return open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
+}