diff --git a/backup_am_github_repos_and_issues.sh b/backup_am_github_repos_and_issues.sh
index a0ced5720d64eb2a3dd079fd1659cb0e57f11900..647ee08fc345a6ceef92f87912d7fb0fad90c27e 100644
--- a/backup_am_github_repos_and_issues.sh
+++ b/backup_am_github_repos_and_issues.sh
@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@ orgnames="archivematica artefactual artefactual-labs" # GitHub organisations
 page=1 # starting page
 perpage=100 # HINT: 100 already per page max
 maxpage=3 # HINT: should be future proof, currently <200 AM-related repos
-local_repo_dir="archivematica_related_repos" # local subdir for repos
-local_issue_dir="archivematica_related_issues" # local subdir for issues
+local_repo_dir="../archivematica_related_repos" # local subdir for repos
+local_issue_dir="../archivematica_related_issues" # local subdir for issues
 orgs_base_url="https://api.github.com/orgs/" # base API URL for GitHub organisations
 issue_base_url="https://github.com/archivematica/Issues/issues/" # base URL for GitHub issues
 min_issue_count=1672 # as of 2024-04-02
 fails=() # set of failed commands
 
 # backup github repos
-mkdir -p ../${local_repo_dir}
+[[ ! -d ${local_repo_dir} ]] && mkdir -p ${local_repo_dir}
 pushd ${local_repo_dir} || exit 1
 until [ ${page} -gt ${maxpage} ]; do
   for org in ${orgnames}; do
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ done
 popd || exit 1
 
 # backup github issues
-mkdir -p ../${local_issue_dir}
+[[ ! -d ${local_issue_dir} ]] && mkdir -p ${local_issue_dir}
 pushd ${local_issue_dir} || exit 1
 for n in {1..100000}; do
   url="${issue_base_url}${n}.html"