diff --git a/common/file_helpers.py b/common/file_helpers.py
index 227d614d72..a29eafdd9f 100644
--- a/common/file_helpers.py
+++ b/common/file_helpers.py
@@ -4,16 +4,6 @@ import tempfile
 from atomicwrites import AtomicWriter
 
 
-def mkdirs_exists_ok(path):
-  if path.startswith(('http://', 'https://')):
-    raise ValueError('URL path')
-  try:
-    os.makedirs(path)
-  except OSError:
-    if not os.path.isdir(path):
-      raise
-
-
 def rm_not_exists_ok(path):
   try:
     os.remove(path)
diff --git a/selfdrive/tombstoned.py b/selfdrive/tombstoned.py
index 3f2fb28d23..51e20dac49 100755
--- a/selfdrive/tombstoned.py
+++ b/selfdrive/tombstoned.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import time
 import glob
 from typing import NoReturn
 
-from openpilot.common.file_helpers import mkdirs_exists_ok
 import openpilot.selfdrive.sentry as sentry
 from openpilot.system.hardware.hw import Paths
 from openpilot.system.swaglog import cloudlog
@@ -128,7 +127,7 @@ def report_tombstone_apport(fn):
   new_fn = f"{date}_{get_commit(default='nocommit')[:8]}_{safe_fn(clean_path)}"[:MAX_TOMBSTONE_FN_LEN]
 
   crashlog_dir = os.path.join(Paths.log_root(), "crash")
-  mkdirs_exists_ok(crashlog_dir)
+  os.makedirs(crashlog_dir, exist_ok=True)
 
   # Files could be on different filesystems, copy, then delete
   shutil.copy(fn, os.path.join(crashlog_dir, new_fn))
diff --git a/system/camerad/test/get_thumbnails_for_segment.py b/system/camerad/test/get_thumbnails_for_segment.py
index 97667ede86..43f543f1bd 100755
--- a/system/camerad/test/get_thumbnails_for_segment.py
+++ b/system/camerad/test/get_thumbnails_for_segment.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import os
 
 from tqdm import tqdm
 
-from openpilot.common.file_helpers import mkdirs_exists_ok
 from openpilot.tools.lib.logreader import LogReader
 from openpilot.tools.lib.route import Route
 
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   args = parser.parse_args()
 
   out_path = os.path.join("jpegs", f"{args.route.replace('|', '_')}_{args.segment}")
-  mkdirs_exists_ok(out_path)
+  os.makedirs(out_path, exist_ok=True)
 
   r = Route(args.route)
   path = r.log_paths()[args.segment] or r.qlog_paths()[args.segment]
diff --git a/tools/lib/auth_config.py b/tools/lib/auth_config.py
index e0989f02ea..c4e7b6261b 100644
--- a/tools/lib/auth_config.py
+++ b/tools/lib/auth_config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import json
 import os
-from openpilot.common.file_helpers import mkdirs_exists_ok
 from openpilot.system.hardware.hw import Paths
 
 
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ def get_token():
 
 
 def set_token(token):
-  mkdirs_exists_ok(Paths.config_root())
+  os.makedirs(Paths.config_root(), exist_ok=True)
   with open(os.path.join(Paths.config_root(), 'auth.json'), 'w') as f:
     json.dump({'access_token': token}, f)
 
diff --git a/tools/lib/cache.py b/tools/lib/cache.py
index fd214f6bb5..d5fa288baa 100644
--- a/tools/lib/cache.py
+++ b/tools/lib/cache.py
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 import os
 import urllib.parse
-from openpilot.common.file_helpers import mkdirs_exists_ok
 
 DEFAULT_CACHE_DIR = os.getenv("CACHE_ROOT", os.path.expanduser("~/.commacache"))
 
 def cache_path_for_file_path(fn, cache_dir=DEFAULT_CACHE_DIR):
   dir_ = os.path.join(cache_dir, "local")
-  mkdirs_exists_ok(dir_)
+  os.makedirs(dir_, exist_ok=True)
   fn_parsed = urllib.parse.urlparse(fn)
   if fn_parsed.scheme == '':
     cache_fn = os.path.abspath(fn).replace("/", "_")
diff --git a/tools/lib/url_file.py b/tools/lib/url_file.py
index 315ade514b..a54552d241 100644
--- a/tools/lib/url_file.py
+++ b/tools/lib/url_file.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import pycurl
 from hashlib import sha256
 from io import BytesIO
 from tenacity import retry, wait_random_exponential, stop_after_attempt
-from openpilot.common.file_helpers import mkdirs_exists_ok, atomic_write_in_dir
+from openpilot.common.file_helpers import atomic_write_in_dir
 from openpilot.system.hardware.hw import Paths
 #  Cache chunk size
 K = 1000
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class URLFile:
     except AttributeError:
       self._curl = self._tlocal.curl = pycurl.Curl()
     if not self._force_download:
-      mkdirs_exists_ok(Paths.download_cache_root())
+      os.makedirs(Paths.download_cache_root(), exist_ok=True)
 
   def __enter__(self):
     return self