diff --git a/src/xrpld/app/misc/SHAMapStoreImp.cpp b/src/xrpld/app/misc/SHAMapStoreImp.cpp
index 7259c233e4..33bbf1c613 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/app/misc/SHAMapStoreImp.cpp
+++ b/src/xrpld/app/misc/SHAMapStoreImp.cpp
@@ -387,8 +387,12 @@ void
 SHAMapStoreImp::dbPaths()
 {
     Section const section{app_.config().section(Sections::kNodeDatabase)};
-    boost::filesystem::path dbPath = get(section, Keys::kPath);
 
+    // Skip creating the directory when an in-memory database is used.
+    if (boost::iequals(get(section, Keys::kType), "memory"))
+        return;
+
+    boost::filesystem::path dbPath = get(section, Keys::kPath);
     if (boost::filesystem::exists(dbPath))
     {
         if (!boost::filesystem::is_directory(dbPath))