diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index e55b67a5..fc5965aa 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 byobu (5.17) unreleased; urgency=low
 
-  * UNRELEASED
+  * usr/bin/byobu-status:
+    - performance improvement, testing for directory existence before
+      mkdir -p saves time
+    - localize a couple of function variables
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Sun, 11 Mar 2012 07:23:06 -0500
 
diff --git a/usr/bin/byobu-status b/usr/bin/byobu-status
index b4db8ab8..8f7ae6bc 100755
--- a/usr/bin/byobu-status
+++ b/usr/bin/byobu-status
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ PKG="byobu"
 [ -f "$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/status.disable" ] && exit 0
 
 # Clean and create cache directories
-mkdir -p "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/status.$BYOBU_BACKEND" "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/.last.$BYOBU_BACKEND"
+[ -d "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/status.$BYOBU_BACKEND" ] || mkdir -p "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/status.$BYOBU_BACKEND"
+[ -d "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/.last.$BYOBU_BACKEND" ] || mkdir -p "$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/.last.$BYOBU_BACKEND"
 
 # Source configurations
 for i in "${BYOBU_PREFIX}/share/$PKG/status/status" "${BYOBU_PREFIX}/share/$PKG/status/statusrc" "$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/status" "$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/statusrc" "$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/color" "$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/color.tmux"; do
@@ -66,15 +67,15 @@ get_status() {
 	[ -r "$lastpath" ] && read lastrun < "$lastpath"
 	case "$1" in
 		ip_address4)
-			IPV6=0
-			function="ip_address"
+			local IPV6=0
+			local function="ip_address"
 		;;
 		ip_address6)
-			IPV6=1
-			function="ip_address"
+			local IPV6=1
+			local function="ip_address"
 		;;
 		*)
-			function="$1"
+			local function="$1"
 		;;
 	esac
 	status_freq "$function"