diff --git a/source/graphics/ColladaManager.cpp b/source/graphics/ColladaManager.cpp
index fc9ddd3e9e..7b6fcc658f 100644
--- a/source/graphics/ColladaManager.cpp
+++ b/source/graphics/ColladaManager.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,11 @@ public:
 		case CColladaManager::PSA: convert_dae_to_psa(daeData.c_str(), ColladaOutput, &writeBuffer); break;
 		}
 
-		g_VFS->CreateFile(pmdFilename, writeBuffer.Data(), writeBuffer.Size());
+		// don't create zero-length files (as happens in test_invalid_dae when
+		// we deliberately pass invalid XML data) because the VFS caching
+		// logic warns when asked to load such.
+		if(writeBuffer.Size())
+			g_VFS->CreateFile(pmdFilename, writeBuffer.Data(), writeBuffer.Size());
 
 		return true;
 	}
diff --git a/source/graphics/tests/test_MeshManager.h b/source/graphics/tests/test_MeshManager.h
index 9c12841e3d..01dfc18c8e 100644
--- a/source/graphics/tests/test_MeshManager.h
+++ b/source/graphics/tests/test_MeshManager.h
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ class TestMeshManager : public CxxTest::TestSuite
 
 		// Make sure the required directories doesn't exist when we start,
 		// in case the previous test aborted and left them full of junk
-//		if(exists(MOD_PATH))
-//			fsPosix.DeleteDirectory(MOD_PATH);
-//		if(exists(MOD_PATH))
-//			fsPosix.DeleteDirectory(CACHE_PATH);
+		if(exists(MOD_PATH))
+			fsPosix.DeleteDirectory(MOD_PATH);
+		if(exists(CACHE_PATH))
+			fsPosix.DeleteDirectory(CACHE_PATH);
 
 		TS_ASSERT(fs::create_directory(MOD_PATH.external_directory_string()));
 		TS_ASSERT(fs::create_directory(CACHE_PATH.external_directory_string()));
diff --git a/source/lib/file/vfs/vfs_lookup.cpp b/source/lib/file/vfs/vfs_lookup.cpp
index 32021a92d9..bd0e745421 100644
--- a/source/lib/file/vfs/vfs_lookup.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/file/vfs/vfs_lookup.cpp
@@ -154,8 +154,6 @@ TIMER_ACCRUE(tc_lookup);
 	if(pathname.empty())	// (prevent iterator error in loop end condition)
 		return INFO::OK;
 
-	Path currentPath;	// (.. thus far; used when createMissingDirectories)
-
 	// for each directory component:
 	VfsPath::iterator it;	// (used outside of loop to get filename)
 	for(it = pathname.begin(); it != --pathname.end(); ++it)
@@ -171,18 +169,16 @@ TIMER_ACCRUE(tc_lookup);
 				return ERR::VFS_DIR_NOT_FOUND;	// NOWARN
 		}
 
-		if(createMissingDirectories)
+		if(createMissingDirectories && !subdirectory->AssociatedDirectory())
 		{
-			if(subdirectory->AssociatedDirectory())
-				currentPath /= subdirectory->AssociatedDirectory()->GetPath().leaf();
-			else
+			Path currentPath;
+			if(directory->AssociatedDirectory())	// (is NULL when mounting into root)
+				currentPath = directory->AssociatedDirectory()->GetPath()/subdirectoryName;
+
+			if(mkdir(currentPath.external_directory_string().c_str(), S_IRWXO|S_IRWXU|S_IRWXG) == 0)
 			{
-				currentPath /= subdirectoryName;
-				if(mkdir(currentPath.external_directory_string().c_str(), S_IRWXO|S_IRWXU|S_IRWXG) == 0)
-				{
-					PRealDirectory realDirectory(new RealDirectory(currentPath, 0, 0));
-					subdirectory->Attach(realDirectory);
-				}
+				PRealDirectory realDirectory(new RealDirectory(currentPath, 0, 0));
+				subdirectory->Attach(realDirectory);
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/source/ps/XML/XMLUtils.cpp b/source/ps/XML/XMLUtils.cpp
index 23bdca1a55..2560a09a54 100644
--- a/source/ps/XML/XMLUtils.cpp
+++ b/source/ps/XML/XMLUtils.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ int CVFSInputSource::OpenFile(const VfsPath& path)
 	LibError ret = g_VFS->LoadFile(path, m_pBuffer, m_BufferSize);
 	if(ret != INFO::OK)
 	{
-		LOG(CLogger::Error, LOG_CATEGORY, "CVFSInputSource: file %s couldn't be loaded (LoadFile: %d)", path, ret);
+		LOG(CLogger::Error, LOG_CATEGORY, "CVFSInputSource: file %s couldn't be loaded (LoadFile: %d)", path.string().c_str(), ret);
 		return -1;
 	}