diff --git a/lib/blockchain.js b/lib/blockchain.js
index d089ae1b..12e4c548 100644
--- a/lib/blockchain.js
+++ b/lib/blockchain.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+var mkdirp = require('mkdirp');
 
 Blockchain = function(blockchainConfig) {
   this.config = blockchainConfig;
@@ -73,6 +74,14 @@ Blockchain.prototype.get_address = function() {
   var address = null;
 
   if (config.account.init) {
+    // ensure datadir exists, bypassing the interactive liabilities prompt.
+    var newDir = mkdirp.sync(config.datadir);
+    if (newDir) {
+      console.log("=== datadir created");
+    } else {
+      console.log("=== datadir already exists");
+    }
+
     console.log("running: " + this.list_command());
     result = exec(this.list_command());
 
@@ -96,4 +105,3 @@ Blockchain.prototype.startChain = function(use_tmp) {
 }
 
 module.exports = Blockchain
-
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b3c5054e..b3e436af 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     "jasmine": "^2.3.1",
     "meteor-build-client": "^0.1.6",
     "methodmissing": "^0.0.3",
+    "mkdirp": "^0.5.1",
     "python": "^0.0.4",
     "read-yaml": "^1.0.0",
     "shelljs": "^0.5.0",