diff --git a/src/util/system.cpp b/src/util/system.cpp
index fca29a9f317..87ff6e62ba8 100644
--- a/src/util/system.cpp
+++ b/src/util/system.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Satoshi Nakamoto
-// Copyright (c) 2009-2018 The Bitcoin Core developers
+// Copyright (c) 2009-2019 The Bitcoin Core developers
 // Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 // file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -705,19 +705,16 @@ fs::path GetDefaultDataDir()
 static fs::path g_blocks_path_cache_net_specific;
 static fs::path pathCached;
 static fs::path pathCachedNetSpecific;
-static CCriticalSection csPathCached;
+static RecursiveMutex csPathCached;
 
 const fs::path &GetBlocksDir()
 {
-
     LOCK(csPathCached);
-
     fs::path &path = g_blocks_path_cache_net_specific;
 
-    // This can be called during exceptions by LogPrintf(), so we cache the
-    // value so we don't have to do memory allocations after that.
-    if (!path.empty())
-        return path;
+    // Cache the path to avoid calling fs::create_directories on every call of
+    // this function
+    if (!path.empty()) return path;
 
     if (gArgs.IsArgSet("-blocksdir")) {
         path = fs::system_complete(gArgs.GetArg("-blocksdir", ""));
@@ -737,15 +734,12 @@ const fs::path &GetBlocksDir()
 
 const fs::path &GetDataDir(bool fNetSpecific)
 {
-
     LOCK(csPathCached);
-
     fs::path &path = fNetSpecific ? pathCachedNetSpecific : pathCached;
 
-    // This can be called during exceptions by LogPrintf(), so we cache the
-    // value so we don't have to do memory allocations after that.
-    if (!path.empty())
-        return path;
+    // Cache the path to avoid calling fs::create_directories on every call of
+    // this function
+    if (!path.empty()) return path;
 
     if (gArgs.IsArgSet("-datadir")) {
         path = fs::system_complete(gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", ""));
diff --git a/src/util/system.h b/src/util/system.h
index 1a83cb67b14..15d7b1b402d 100644
--- a/src/util/system.h
+++ b/src/util/system.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Satoshi Nakamoto
-// Copyright (c) 2009-2018 The Bitcoin Core developers
+// Copyright (c) 2009-2019 The Bitcoin Core developers
 // Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 // file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -20,18 +20,16 @@
 #include <fs.h>
 #include <logging.h>
 #include <sync.h>
-#include <util/threadnames.h>
 #include <tinyformat.h>
 #include <util/memory.h>
+#include <util/threadnames.h>
 #include <util/time.h>
 
-#include <atomic>
 #include <exception>
 #include <map>
 #include <set>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <string>
-#include <unordered_set>
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -85,6 +83,7 @@ fs::path GetDefaultDataDir();
 // The blocks directory is always net specific.
 const fs::path &GetBlocksDir();
 const fs::path &GetDataDir(bool fNetSpecific = true);
+/** Tests only */
 void ClearDatadirCache();
 fs::path GetConfigFile(const std::string& confPath);
 #ifdef WIN32