diff --git a/R/check.R b/R/check.R
index c4c8e0db..dc0a2caa 100644
--- a/R/check.R
+++ b/R/check.R
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ check_directory <- function(x){
   }else{
     directory <- dirname(x)
     if(!dir.exists(directory)){
-      dir.create(directory)
+      dir.create(directory, recursive = TRUE)
     }else{
       x
     }
diff --git a/R/deprecated_functions.R b/R/deprecated_functions.R
index c30b6363..b75d99b8 100644
--- a/R/deprecated_functions.R
+++ b/R/deprecated_functions.R
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@
 #'     atlas_taxonomy()
 #' }
 #' @rdname deprecated-functions
-#' @importFrom rlang warn
+#' @importFrom lifecycle deprecate_warn
 #' @export
 galah_down_to <- function(...){
   
-  lifecycle::deprecate_warn(when = "2.0.0",
+  deprecate_warn(when = "2.0.0",
                             what = "galah_down_to()",
                             details = "Use `filter(rank == \"chosen_rank\")` instead."
                             )
diff --git a/R/galah_config.R b/R/galah_config.R
index 72558e05..ffe1442e 100644
--- a/R/galah_config.R
+++ b/R/galah_config.R
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
 #' # Make debugging in your session easier by setting `verbose = TRUE`
 #' galah_config(verbose = TRUE)
 #' }
+#' @importFrom lifecycle deprecate_warn
+#' @importFrom glue glue
 #' @importFrom rlang abort
 #' @importFrom potions brew
 #' @importFrom potions pour
@@ -80,6 +82,18 @@ galah_config <- function(...) {
   
   # add user-provided information
   if(length(dots) > 0){
+    
+    # check for deprecated `cache_directory`
+    if(any(names(dots) == "cache_directory")){
+      dots_location <- which(names(dots) == "cache_directory")
+      value <- dots$cache_directory
+      deprecate_warn(when = "2.0.0",
+                     what = "galah_config(cache_directory)",
+                     details = glue("Use `galah_config(directory = \"{value}\")` instead.")
+      )
+      names(dots)[dots_location] <- "directory"
+    }
+    
     # check all values in dots to ensure they are named
     if(length(dots) != length(names(dots))){
       bullets <- c("All arguments to `galah_config() must be named.",
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-galah_config.R b/tests/testthat/test-galah_config.R
index b3648dd0..81712868 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-galah_config.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-galah_config.R
@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
+test_that("galah_config warns that `cache_directory` is deprecated", {
+  dir.create("temp")
+  expect_warning(galah_config(cache_directory = "temp"))
+  expect_true(galah_config()$package$directory == "temp")
+  galah_config(directory = tempfile())
+  unlink("temp", recursive = TRUE)
+})
+
+test_that("galah_config creates nested folders where requested", {
+  galah_config(directory = "non/existent/dir")
+  expect_true(any(grepl("./non", list.dirs())))
+  galah_config(directory = tempfile())
+  unlink("non", recursive = TRUE)
+})
+
 test_that("galah_config checks download_id", {
   skip_if_offline()
   galah_config(verbose = TRUE)
@@ -14,7 +29,6 @@ test_that("galah_config checks inputs", {
   expect_error(galah_config(caching = "value"))
   expect_error(galah_config(verbose = "value"))
   expect_error(galah_config(email = 4))
-  expect_error(galah_config(cache_directory = "non/existent/dir"))
   expect_error(galah_config(bad_option = "value"))
   expect_error(galah_config(atlas = "world"))
   expect_silent(galah_config(verbose = FALSE, atlas = "Australia"))