diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0b93fb0e..8fd8eb29 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+* #4650: Failure to write journal files. (marco)
+
 Snapshot ee8712d1c4
 
 * #3119: Implement some basic search capabilities in the mesh view. (tomeu)
diff --git a/lib/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py b/lib/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
index cd75edd2..1789542e 100644
--- a/lib/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
+++ b/lib/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
@@ -84,10 +84,12 @@ def get_environment(activity):
     if not os.path.exists(activity_root):
         os.mkdir(activity_root)
 
-        data_dir = os.path.join(activity_root, 'data')
+    data_dir = os.path.join(activity_root, 'data')
+    if not os.path.exists(data_dir):
         os.mkdir(data_dir)
 
-        tmp_dir = os.path.join(activity_root, 'tmp')
+    tmp_dir = os.path.join(activity_root, 'tmp')
+    if not os.path.exists(tmp_dir):
         os.mkdir(tmp_dir)
 
     environ['SUGAR_BUNDLE_PATH'] = activity.path