diff --git a/build-libbitcoind.sh b/build-libbitcoind.sh
index 3c126c94..713dce1e 100755
--- a/build-libbitcoind.sh
+++ b/build-libbitcoind.sh
@@ -5,14 +5,22 @@ os_dir=$(dirname "$(./platform/os.sh)")
 
 if test -n "$1"; then
   if test "$1" = 'remote'; then
-    git clone git://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git || exit 1
-    btc_dir="${cur_dir}/bitcoin"
+    git clone git://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git libbitcoind || exit 1
+    btc_dir="${cur_dir}/libbitcoind"
   else
     btc_dir=$1
+    if ! test -d "$btc_dir"; then
+      "$0" remote
+      exit 0
+    fi
   fi
   shift
 else
   btc_dir="${HOME}/bitcoin"
+  if ! test -d "$btc_dir"; then
+    "$0" remote
+    exit 0
+  fi
 fi
 
 ./patch-bitcoin.sh "$btc_dir" || exit 1
diff --git a/patch-bitcoin.sh b/patch-bitcoin.sh
index a04a75e9..efa92966 100755
--- a/patch-bitcoin.sh
+++ b/patch-bitcoin.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ cd "$dir" || exit 1
 
 if test -e .git; then
   git checkout 4383319e4e0cb96818d2be734f7280181daac9fa
+  if test $? -ne 0; then
+    echo 'Unable to checkout necessary commit.'
+    echo 'Please pull the latest HEAD from the upstream bitcoin repo.'
+    exit 1
+  fi
   git checkout -b "libbitcoind-$(date '+%Y.%m.%d')" || exit 1
 fi