diff --git a/rpiGenImage.sh b/rpiGenImage.sh
index 5ae182d..e26707f 100755
--- a/rpiGenImage.sh
+++ b/rpiGenImage.sh
@@ -573,13 +573,15 @@ if [ -r "/dev/mapping/${CRYPTFS_MAPPING}" ] ; then
 fi
 
 # Don't clobber an old build
-if [ -e "$BUILDDIR" ] ; then
+if [ -e "$BUILDDIR" ] && [ "$BUILD_KERNEL" = true ] ; then
   echo "error: directory ${BUILDDIR} already exists, not proceeding"
   exit 1
 fi
 
-# Setup chroot directory
-mkdir -p "${R}"
+if [ "$BUILD_KERNEL" = true ] ; then
+  # Setup chroot directory
+  mkdir -p "${R}"
+fi
 
 # Check if build directory has enough of free disk space >512MB
 if [ "$(df --output=avail "${BUILDDIR}" | sed "1d")" -le "524288" ] ; then