diff --git a/src/core/execute.c b/src/core/execute.c
index 9ddba00..46aa733 100644
--- a/src/core/execute.c
+++ b/src/core/execute.c
@@ -2097,11 +2097,12 @@ static int setup_exec_directory(
                         }
                 } else {
                         r = mkdir_label(p, context->directories[type].mode);
-                        if (r < 0 && r != -EEXIST)
-                                goto fail;
-                        if (r == -EEXIST) {
+                        if (r < 0) {
                                 struct stat st;
 
+                                if (r != -EEXIST)
+                                        goto fail;
+
                                 if (stat(p, &st) < 0) {
                                         r = -errno;
                                         goto fail;