diff --git a/goreleaserlib/goreleaser.go b/goreleaserlib/goreleaser.go
index 9f6c37dc7..9208fdd1d 100644
--- a/goreleaserlib/goreleaser.go
+++ b/goreleaserlib/goreleaser.go
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ func init() {
 var pipes = []pipeline.Piper{
 	defaults.Pipe{},        // load default configs
 	dist.Pipe{},            // ensure ./dist is clean
-	effectiveconfig.Pipe{}, // writes the actual config (with defaults et al set) to dist
 	git.Pipe{},             // get and validate git repo state
+	effectiveconfig.Pipe{}, // writes the actual config (with defaults et al set) to dist
 	changelog.Pipe{},       // builds the release changelog
 	env.Pipe{},             // load and validate environment variables
 	build.Pipe{},           // build
diff --git a/pipeline/dist/dist.go b/pipeline/dist/dist.go
index 760689463..72eb1a31a 100644
--- a/pipeline/dist/dist.go
+++ b/pipeline/dist/dist.go
@@ -49,5 +49,5 @@ func (Pipe) Run(ctx *context.Context) (err error) {
 }
 
 func mkdir(ctx *context.Context) error {
-	return os.Mkdir(ctx.Config.Dist, 0755)
+	return os.MkdirAll(ctx.Config.Dist, 0755)
 }
diff --git a/pipeline/dist/dist_test.go b/pipeline/dist/dist_test.go
index cbeb0f556..ffff99e88 100644
--- a/pipeline/dist/dist_test.go
+++ b/pipeline/dist/dist_test.go
@@ -12,12 +12,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestDistDoesNotExist(t *testing.T) {
+	folder, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "disttest")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	var dist = filepath.Join(folder, "dist")
 	assert.NoError(
 		t,
 		Pipe{}.Run(
 			&context.Context{
 				Config: config.Project{
-					Dist: "/wtf-this-shouldnt-exist",
+					Dist: dist,
 				},
 			},
 		),
@@ -55,7 +58,7 @@ func TestEmptyDistExists(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	assert.NoError(t, Pipe{}.Run(ctx))
 	_, err = os.Stat(dist)
-	assert.False(t, os.IsExist(err))
+	assert.False(t, os.IsNotExist(err))
 }
 
 func TestDescription(t *testing.T) {