diff --git a/hda/api.py b/hda/api.py
index e613031..1470a53 100644
--- a/hda/api.py
+++ b/hda/api.py
@@ -189,12 +189,12 @@ def __repr__(self):
             self.jobId,
         )
 
-    def download(self):
+    def download(self, download_dir: str = "."):
         for result in self.results:
             query = {"jobId": self.jobId, "uri": result["url"]}
             self.debug(result)
             url = DataOrderRequest(self.client).run(query)
-            self.stream(result.get("filename"), result.get("size"), *url)
+            self.stream(result.get("filename"), result.get("size"), download_dir, *url)
 
 
 class Client(object):
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ def post(self, message, *args):
         self.debug("<=== %s", shorten(result))
         return result
 
-    def stream(self, target, size, *args):
+    def stream(self, target, size, download_dir, *args):
         full = self.full_url(*args)
 
         filename = target
@@ -480,6 +480,9 @@ def stream(self, target, size, *args):
             # always safe - namely not for Cryosat or other ESA datasets.
             filename = None
 
+        if download_dir is None or not os.path.exists(download_dir):
+            download_dir = "."
+
         self.info(
             "Downloading %s to %s (%s)",
             full,
@@ -523,7 +526,7 @@ def stream(self, target, size, *args):
                     leave=False,
                 ) as pbar:
                     pbar.update(total)
-                    with open(filename, mode) as f:
+                    with open(os.path.join(download_dir, filename), mode) as f:
                         for chunk in r.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
                             if chunk:
                                 f.write(chunk)