diff --git a/multinode-demo/common.sh b/multinode-demo/common.sh
index 88416f278b..ff69443f4d 100644
--- a/multinode-demo/common.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/common.sh
@@ -163,8 +163,8 @@ tune_networking() {
 
 SOLANA_CONFIG_DIR=${SNAP_DATA:-$PWD}/config
 SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR=${SNAP_DATA:-$PWD}/config-private
+SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR=${SNAP_DATA:-$PWD}/config-validator
 SOLANA_CONFIG_CLIENT_DIR=${SNAP_USER_DATA:-$PWD}/config-client
-SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR=${SNAP_USER_DATA:-$PWD}/config-validator
 
 rsync_url() { # adds the 'rsync://` prefix to URLs that need it
   declare url="$1"
diff --git a/multinode-demo/validator.sh b/multinode-demo/validator.sh
index 0836c0e3cc..f728ad401c 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/validator.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/validator.sh
@@ -74,10 +74,11 @@ if ((!self_setup)); then
   validator_json_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator.json
   SOLANA_LEADER_CONFIG_DIR=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/leader-config
 else
-
+  mkdir -p "$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR"
   validator_id_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_PRIVATE_DIR/validator-id-x$$.json
   $solana_keygen -o "$validator_id_path"
 
+  mkdir -p "$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR"
   validator_json_path=$SOLANA_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_DIR/validator-x$$.json
   $solana_fullnode_config --keypair="$validator_id_path" -l -b $((9000 + ($$ % 1000))) > "$validator_json_path"