diff --git a/build/jam/HaikuImage b/build/jam/HaikuImage
index 1dbfb1a48b..191fb99ffb 100644
--- a/build/jam/HaikuImage
+++ b/build/jam/HaikuImage
@@ -358,7 +358,6 @@ AddSymlinkToHaikuImage home config settings
 	: /boot/beos/etc/timezones/Europe/Paris : timezone ;
 
 AddFilesToHaikuImage home config settings : <keymap>US-International : Key_map ;
-AddDirectoryToHaikuImage home config settings Keymap ;
 
 # bison files
 SEARCH on <bison>m4sugar.m4
diff --git a/src/preferences/keymap/KeymapWindow.cpp b/src/preferences/keymap/KeymapWindow.cpp
index 50f49d97eb..dfa933e527 100644
--- a/src/preferences/keymap/KeymapWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/preferences/keymap/KeymapWindow.cpp
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ KeymapWindow::KeymapWindow()
 	entry_ref ref;
 	get_ref_for_path(path.Path(), &ref);
 	
+	BDirectory userKeymapsDir(&ref);
+	if (userKeymapsDir.InitCheck() != B_OK) {
+		create_directory(path.Path(), 0777);
+	}
+	
 	fOpenPanel = new BFilePanel(B_OPEN_PANEL, new BMessenger(this), &ref, 
 		B_FILE_NODE, false, NULL);
 	fSavePanel = new BFilePanel(B_SAVE_PANEL, new BMessenger(this), &ref,