diff --git a/src/base_image.rs b/src/base_image.rs
index 6f3cb79..50d7873 100644
--- a/src/base_image.rs
+++ b/src/base_image.rs
@@ -97,25 +97,22 @@ where
         for dir in dest.read_dir()? {
             let path = dir?.path();
             if let Err(err) = chmod_dirs(&path, |mode| mode | 0o700) {
-                log::error!(
+                bail!(
                     "could not fix permissions for {}: {}",
                     path.display(),
                     err
                 );
-                bail!(err);
             }
             if path.is_dir() {
                 if let Err(err) = fs::remove_dir_all(&path) {
-                    log::error!("could not remove {}: {}", path.display(), err);
-                    bail!(err);
+                    bail!("could not remove {}: {}", path.display(), err);
                 }
             } else if let Err(err) = fs::remove_file(&path) {
-                log::error!("could not remove {}: {}", path.display(), err);
-                bail!(err);
+                bail!("could not remove {}: {}", path.display(), err);
             }
         }
-    } else {
-        fs::create_dir_all(dest).unwrap();
+    } else if let Err(err) = fs::create_dir_all(dest) {
+        bail!("could not create {}: {}", dest.display(), err);
     }
 
     log::info!("unpacking base image into {}", dest.display());
diff --git a/src/bin/dive.rs b/src/bin/dive.rs
index fe4add3..cdfdc0a 100644
--- a/src/bin/dive.rs
+++ b/src/bin/dive.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,18 @@ fn get_lead_pid(container_id: &str) -> Option<i32> {
         .or_else(|| pid_lookup(container_id))
 }
 
+fn base_state_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    let cfg_state_dir = option_env!("CONFIG_STATE_DIR");
+    if std::env::var_os("XDG_STATE_HOME").is_none() {
+        cfg_state_dir
+            .map(PathBuf::from)
+            .or(dirs::state_dir())
+            .unwrap()
+    } else {
+        dirs::state_dir().unwrap()
+    }
+}
+
 fn get_img_dir(args: &Args) -> PathBuf {
     if let Ok(img_dir) = std::env::var(ENV_IMG_DIR) {
         return PathBuf::from(img_dir);
@@ -57,14 +69,14 @@ fn get_img_dir(args: &Args) -> PathBuf {
     if args.img_dir.is_some() {
         return PathBuf::from(args.img_dir.clone().unwrap());
     }
-    dirs::state_dir().unwrap().join(APP_NAME).join(IMG_DIR)
+    base_state_dir().join(APP_NAME).join(IMG_DIR)
 }
 
 fn get_state_dir() -> PathBuf {
     if let Ok(ovl_dir) = std::env::var(ENV_STATE_DIR) {
         return PathBuf::from(ovl_dir);
     }
-    dirs::state_dir().unwrap().join(APP_NAME)
+    base_state_dir().join(APP_NAME)
 }
 
 fn init_logging() {