1 files changed, 6 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchIdx.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchIdx.pm
index 135b5eb9..f96f0d03 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchIdx.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchIdx.pm
@@ -110,7 +110,12 @@ sub _xdb_acquire {
          if ($self->{creat}) {
                  require File::Path;
                  $self->lock_acquire;
-                File::Path::mkpath($dir);
+
+                # don't create empty Xapian directories if we don't need Xapian
+                my $is_part = defined($self->{partition});
+                if (!$is_part || ($is_part && need_xapian($self))) {
+                        File::Path::mkpath($dir);
+                }
          }
          return unless defined $flag;
          $self->{xdb} = Search::Xapian::WritableDatabase->new($dir, $flag);