diff --git a/cli/src/command_error.rs b/cli/src/command_error.rs
index 2ee53bed67..4471f9b6f1 100644
--- a/cli/src/command_error.rs
+++ b/cli/src/command_error.rs
@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ impl From<io::Error> for CommandError {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<jj_lib::file_util::PathError> for CommandError {
+    fn from(err: jj_lib::file_util::PathError) -> Self {
+        user_error(err)
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<config::ConfigError> for CommandError {
     fn from(err: config::ConfigError) -> Self {
         config_error(err)
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/workspace.rs b/cli/src/commands/workspace.rs
index 67ffa52f9f..b77ab08c3a 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/workspace.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands/workspace.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ use clap::Subcommand;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use jj_lib::commit::CommitIteratorExt;
 use jj_lib::file_util;
+use jj_lib::file_util::IoResultExt;
 use jj_lib::object_id::ObjectId;
 use jj_lib::op_store::{OpStoreError, WorkspaceId};
 use jj_lib::operation::Operation;
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ fn cmd_workspace_add(
     if destination_path.exists() {
         return Err(user_error("Workspace already exists"));
     } else {
-        fs::create_dir(&destination_path).unwrap();
+        fs::create_dir(&destination_path).context(&destination_path)?;
     }
     let name = if let Some(name) = &args.name {
         name.to_string()
diff --git a/lib/src/file_util.rs b/lib/src/file_util.rs
index 157c882542..55b24e9aab 100644
--- a/lib/src/file_util.rs
+++ b/lib/src/file_util.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub struct PathError {
     pub error: io::Error,
 }
 
-pub(crate) trait IoResultExt<T> {
+pub trait IoResultExt<T> {
     fn context(self, path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<T, PathError>;
 }