diff --git a/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/Warp3DMap/Warp3DImageModule.cs b/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/Warp3DMap/Warp3DImageModule.cs
index deb94606b2..a0a5c84948 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/Warp3DMap/Warp3DImageModule.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/Warp3DMap/Warp3DImageModule.cs
@@ -137,6 +137,18 @@ namespace OpenSim.Region.CoreModules.World.Warp3DMap
 
             m_mapTilesDirectory =
                 Util.GetConfigVarFromSections<string>(source, "MapTilesDirectory", configSections, m_mapTilesDirectory);
+            if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(m_mapTilesDirectory))
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    Directory.CreateDirectory(m_mapTilesDirectory);
+                }
+                catch(Exception e)
+                {
+                    m_log.Error($"[MAPTILE]: failed to create folder {m_mapTilesDirectory} for local map tiles {e.Message}");
+                    m_mapTilesDirectory = null;
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         public void AddRegion(Scene scene)
@@ -215,10 +227,8 @@ namespace OpenSim.Region.CoreModules.World.Warp3DMap
             // image may be reloaded elsewhere, so no compression format
             string filename = "MAP-" + m_scene.RegionInfo.RegionID.ToString() + ".png";
             if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(m_mapTilesDirectory))
-            {
-                Directory.CreateDirectory(m_mapTilesDirectory);
                 filename = System.IO.Path.Combine(m_mapTilesDirectory, filename);
-            }
+
             tile.Save(filename,ImageFormat.Png);
             m_primMesher = null;
             return tile;
diff --git a/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/WorldMap/WorldMapModule.cs b/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/WorldMap/WorldMapModule.cs
index f6dbf89ba8..1ececea8c8 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/WorldMap/WorldMapModule.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Region/CoreModules/World/WorldMap/WorldMapModule.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Collections;
-using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Drawing;
 using System.Drawing.Imaging;
@@ -161,6 +160,19 @@ namespace OpenSim.Region.CoreModules.World.WorldMap
                 Util.GetConfigVarFromSections<bool>(config, "LocalV1MapAssets", configSections, m_localV1MapAssets);
             m_mapTilesDirectory =
                 Util.GetConfigVarFromSections<string>(config, "MapTilesDirectory", configSections, m_mapTilesDirectory);
+            if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(m_mapTilesDirectory))
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    Directory.CreateDirectory(m_mapTilesDirectory);
+                }
+                catch(Exception e)
+                {
+                    m_log.Error($"[WORLD MAP]: failed to create folder {m_mapTilesDirectory} for local map tiles {e.Message}");
+                    m_mapTilesDirectory = null;
+                }
+            }
+
         }
 
         public virtual void AddRegion(Scene scene)
@@ -1340,12 +1352,12 @@ namespace OpenSim.Region.CoreModules.World.WorldMap
             startX--;
             startY--;
 
-            bool doneLocal = false;
+            bool doneLocal;
             string filename = "MAP-" + m_scene.RegionInfo.RegionID.ToString() + ".png";
-            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(m_mapTilesDirectory))
-                filename = Path.Combine(m_mapTilesDirectory, filename);
             try
             {
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(m_mapTilesDirectory))
+                    filename = Path.Combine(m_mapTilesDirectory, filename);
                 using(Image localMap = Bitmap.FromFile(filename))
                 {
                     int x = regionX - startX;
@@ -1364,7 +1376,11 @@ namespace OpenSim.Region.CoreModules.World.WorldMap
                 }
                 doneLocal = true;
             }
-            catch {}
+            catch(Exception ex)
+            {
+                m_log.Error($"[WORLD MAP]: failed Export map file {ex.Message}");
+                return;
+            }
 
             if(regions.Count > 0)
             {
diff --git a/bin/OpenSimDefaults.ini b/bin/OpenSimDefaults.ini
index fbfe80bb95..af69673354 100644
--- a/bin/OpenSimDefaults.ini
+++ b/bin/OpenSimDefaults.ini
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@
     ; Directory used to load and save the generated MAP-<region uuid>.png tile images.
     ; If left empty the current working directory is used (default behaviour).
     ; The directory is created automatically if it does not exist.
-    ;MapTilesDirectory = "./maptiles"
+    ;MapTilesDirectory = "./localmaptiles"
 
     ; World map blacklist timeout in seconds
     ;BlacklistTimeout = 600