if (!rec_file || clp->cl_firststate)
                return 0;
 
+       clp->cl_firststate = 1;
        status = nfs4_save_creds(&original_cred);
        if (status < 0)
                return status;
                goto out_unlock;
        }
        status = -EEXIST;
-       if (dentry->d_inode) {
-               dprintk("NFSD: nfsd4_create_clid_dir: DIRECTORY EXISTS\n");
+       if (dentry->d_inode)
                goto out_put;
-       }
        status = mnt_want_write(rec_file->f_path.mnt);
        if (status)
                goto out_put;
        dput(dentry);
 out_unlock:
        mutex_unlock(&dir->d_inode->i_mutex);
-       if (status == 0) {
-               clp->cl_firststate = 1;
+       if (status == 0)
                vfs_fsync(rec_file, 0);
-       }
+       else
+               printk(KERN_ERR "NFSD: failed to write recovery record"
+                               " (err %d); please check that %s exists"
+                               " and is writeable", status,
+                               user_recovery_dirname);
        nfs4_reset_creds(original_cred);
-       dprintk("NFSD: nfsd4_create_clid_dir returns %d\n", status);
        return status;
 }