diff --git a/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc b/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
index eb4361e25..254a86d7b 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/repl-interacter.cc
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ ReadlineLikeInteracter::Guard ReadlineLikeInteracter::init(detail::ReplCompleter
     rl_readline_name = "nix-repl";
     try {
         createDirs(dirOf(historyFile));
-    } catch (SystemError & e) {
-        logWarning(e.info());
+    } catch (std::filesystem::filesystem_error & e) {
+        warn(e.what());
     }
 #ifndef USE_READLINE
     el_hist_size = 1000;
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 919bf5d50..cd5db31bb 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -413,30 +413,9 @@ void deletePath(const fs::path & path)
 }
 
 
-Paths createDirs(const Path & path)
+void createDirs(const Path & path)
 {
-    Paths created;
-    if (path == "/") return created;
-
-    struct stat st;
-    if (STAT(path.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
-        created = createDirs(dirOf(path));
-        if (mkdir(path.c_str()
-#ifndef _WIN32 // TODO abstract mkdir perms for Windows
-            , 0777
-#endif
-            ) == -1 && errno != EEXIST)
-            throw SysError("creating directory '%1%'", path);
-        st = STAT(path);
-        created.push_back(path);
-    }
-
-    if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) && stat(path.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-        throw SysError("statting symlink '%1%'", path);
-
-    if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) throw Error("'%1%' is not a directory", path);
-
-    return created;
+    fs::create_directories(path);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.hh b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
index c6b6ecedb..9405cda0c 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
@@ -148,11 +148,10 @@ void deletePath(const std::filesystem::path & path);
 void deletePath(const std::filesystem::path & path, uint64_t & bytesFreed);
 
 /**
- * Create a directory and all its parents, if necessary.  Returns the
- * list of created directories, in order of creation.
+ * Create a directory and all its parents, if necessary.
  */
-Paths createDirs(const Path & path);
-inline Paths createDirs(PathView path)
+void createDirs(const Path & path);
+inline void createDirs(PathView path)
 {
     return createDirs(Path(path));
 }