diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/environment/environment.py b/lib/spack/spack/environment/environment.py
index 25fbcd59550..01516004979 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/environment/environment.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/environment/environment.py
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@
 #: default path where environments are stored in the spack tree
 default_env_path = os.path.join(spack.paths.var_path, "environments")
 
+# ensure that this base directory exists since we require the root directory to be created
+# in our checks
+os.makedirs(default_env_path, exist_ok = True)
+
 
 #: Name of the input yaml file for an environment
 manifest_name = "spack.yaml"
@@ -250,6 +254,8 @@ def create(name, init_file=None, with_view=None, keep_relative=False):
     """Create a named environment in Spack."""
     if not os.path.isdir(env_root_path()):
         # double check that the root path exists before we check the full environment name
+        # we need to be a bit more pedantic and not create automatically since this is a user
+        # configurable path that can be subject to user input errors
         raise SpackEnvironmentError(
             "The environments_root '{er}' does not exist.  Please create the directory or provide "
             "a valid path in the config.yaml".format(er=env_root_path())