diff --git a/src/documents/consumer.py b/src/documents/consumer.py
index 886b0dd69..fc8635c95 100644
--- a/src/documents/consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/consumer.py
@@ -43,10 +43,7 @@ class Consumer:
         self.consume = consume
         self.scratch = scratch
 
-        try:
-            os.makedirs(self.scratch)
-        except FileExistsError:
-            pass
+        make_dirs(self.scratch)
 
         if not self.consume:
             raise ConsumerError(
@@ -245,3 +242,11 @@ class Consumer:
         with open(doc, "rb") as f:
             checksum = hashlib.md5(f.read()).hexdigest()
         return Document.objects.filter(checksum=checksum).exists()
+
+
+def make_dirs(*dirs):
+    for dir in dirs:
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(dir)
+        except FileExistsError:
+            pass
diff --git a/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py b/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
index f94265b65..ae8ff7e35 100644
--- a/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import time
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
 
-from ...consumer import Consumer, ConsumerError
+from ...consumer import Consumer, ConsumerError, make_dirs
 from ...mail import MailFetcher, MailFetcherError
 
 
@@ -67,11 +67,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         except (ConsumerError, MailFetcherError) as e:
             raise CommandError(e)
 
-        for path in (self.ORIGINAL_DOCS, self.THUMB_DOCS):
-            try:
-                os.makedirs(path)
-            except FileExistsError:
-                pass
+        make_dirs(self.ORIGINAL_DOCS, self.THUMB_DOCS)
 
         logging.getLogger(__name__).info(
             "Starting document consumer at {}".format(directory)