diff --git a/agent/gpg-agent.c b/agent/gpg-agent.c
index 8f5d5b899..e03cc6b05 100644
--- a/agent/gpg-agent.c
+++ b/agent/gpg-agent.c
@@ -1378,7 +1378,8 @@ main (int argc, char **argv )
     }
 
   /* Try to create missing directories. */
-  create_directories ();
+  if (!gpgconf_list)
+    create_directories ();
 
   if (debug_wait && pipe_server)
     {