diff --git a/lbry/extras/cli.py b/lbry/extras/cli.py
index c263a84d9..a33543faf 100644
--- a/lbry/extras/cli.py
+++ b/lbry/extras/cli.py
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@ def get_argument_parser():
 def ensure_directory_exists(path: str):
     if not os.path.isdir(path):
         pathlib.Path(path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    use_effective_ids = os.access in os.supports_effective_ids
+    if not os.access(path, os.W_OK, effective_ids=use_effective_ids):
+        raise PermissionError(f"The following directory is not writable: {path}")
 
 
 LOG_MODULES = 'lbry', 'aioupnp'
diff --git a/tests/integration/other/test_cli.py b/tests/integration/other/test_cli.py
index 7de635fc6..968665333 100644
--- a/tests/integration/other/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/integration/other/test_cli.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import contextlib
+import os
+import tempfile
 from io import StringIO
 from lbry.testcase import AsyncioTestCase
 
@@ -37,3 +39,9 @@ class CLIIntegrationTest(AsyncioTestCase):
             cli.main(["--api", "localhost:5299", "status"])
         actual_output = actual_output.getvalue()
         self.assertIn("is_running", actual_output)
+
+    def test_when_download_dir_non_writable_on_start_then_daemon_dies_with_helpful_msg(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as download_dir:
+            os.chmod(download_dir, mode=0o555)  # makes download dir non-writable, readable and executable
+            with self.assertRaisesRegex(PermissionError, f"The following directory is not writable: {download_dir}"):
+                cli.main(["start", "--download-dir", download_dir])
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_cli.py b/tests/unit/test_cli.py
index 935364f05..cf6d91002 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_cli.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import tempfile
 import shutil
 import contextlib
 import logging
+import pathlib
 from io import StringIO
 from unittest import TestCase
 from unittest.mock import patch
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 import docopt
 from lbry.testcase import AsyncioTestCase
 
-from lbry.extras.cli import normalize_value, main, setup_logging
+from lbry.extras.cli import normalize_value, main, setup_logging, ensure_directory_exists
 from lbry.extras.system_info import get_platform
 from lbry.extras.daemon.daemon import Daemon
 from lbry.conf import Config
@@ -202,3 +203,37 @@ class DaemonDocsTests(TestCase):
                 pass
         if failures:
             self.fail("\n" + "\n".join(failures))
+
+
+class EnsureDirectoryExistsTests(TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.temp_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        shutil.rmtree(self.temp_dir)
+
+    def test_when_parent_dir_does_not_exist_then_dir_is_created_with_parent(self):
+        dir_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "parent_dir", "dir")
+        ensure_directory_exists(dir_path)
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(dir_path))
+
+    def test_when_non_writable_dir_exists_then_raise(self):
+        dir_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "dir")
+        pathlib.Path(dir_path).mkdir(mode=0o555)  # creates a non-writable, readable and executable dir
+        with self.assertRaises(PermissionError):
+            ensure_directory_exists(dir_path)
+
+    def test_when_dir_exists_and_writable_then_no_raise(self):
+        dir_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "dir")
+        pathlib.Path(dir_path).mkdir(mode=0o777)  # creates a writable, readable and executable dir
+        try:
+            ensure_directory_exists(dir_path)
+        except (FileExistsError, PermissionError) as err:
+            self.fail(f"{type(err).__name__} was raised")
+
+    def test_when_non_dir_file_exists_at_path_then_raise(self):
+        file_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "file.extension")
+        pathlib.Path(file_path).touch()
+        with self.assertRaises(FileExistsError):
+            ensure_directory_exists(file_path)