diff --git a/cmd/restic/global.go b/cmd/restic/global.go
index 7f830927c..08b27ae4a 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/global.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/global.go
@@ -376,6 +376,10 @@ func OpenRepository(opts GlobalOptions) (*repository.Repository, error) {
 		return s, nil
 	}
 
+	if c.Created && !opts.JSON {
+		Verbosef("created new cache in %v\n", c.Base)
+	}
+
 	// start using the cache
 	s.UseCache(c)
 
diff --git a/internal/cache/cache.go b/internal/cache/cache.go
index 7dc5d916a..fd5743b94 100644
--- a/internal/cache/cache.go
+++ b/internal/cache/cache.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 type Cache struct {
 	Path             string
 	Base             string
+	Created          bool
 	PerformReadahead func(restic.Handle) bool
 }
 
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ func New(id string, basedir string) (c *Cache, err error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	err = mkdirCacheDir(basedir)
+	created, err := mkdirCacheDir(basedir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -121,8 +122,13 @@ func New(id string, basedir string) (c *Cache, err error) {
 	}
 
 	// create the repo cache dir if it does not exist yet
-	if err = fs.MkdirAll(cachedir, dirMode); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	_, err = fs.Lstat(cachedir)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		err = fs.MkdirAll(cachedir, dirMode)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		created = true
 	}
 
 	// update the timestamp so that we can detect old cache dirs
@@ -145,8 +151,9 @@ func New(id string, basedir string) (c *Cache, err error) {
 	}
 
 	c = &Cache{
-		Path: cachedir,
-		Base: basedir,
+		Path:    cachedir,
+		Base:    basedir,
+		Created: created,
 		PerformReadahead: func(restic.Handle) bool {
 			// do not perform readahead by default
 			return false
diff --git a/internal/cache/dir.go b/internal/cache/dir.go
index 398e806ca..c4af67d44 100644
--- a/internal/cache/dir.go
+++ b/internal/cache/dir.go
@@ -68,25 +68,31 @@ func DefaultDir() (cachedir string, err error) {
 	return cachedir, nil
 }
 
-func mkdirCacheDir(cachedir string) error {
+// mkdirCacheDir ensures that the cache directory exists. It it didn't, created
+// is set to true.
+func mkdirCacheDir(cachedir string) (created bool, err error) {
+	var newCacheDir bool
+
 	fi, err := fs.Stat(cachedir)
 	if os.IsNotExist(errors.Cause(err)) {
 		err = fs.MkdirAll(cachedir, 0700)
 		if err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "MkdirAll")
+			return true, errors.Wrap(err, "MkdirAll")
 		}
 
 		fi, err = fs.Stat(cachedir)
 		debug.Log("create cache dir %v", cachedir)
+
+		newCacheDir = true
 	}
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "Stat")
+		return newCacheDir, errors.Wrap(err, "Stat")
 	}
 
 	if !fi.IsDir() {
-		return errors.Errorf("cache dir %v is not a directory", cachedir)
+		return newCacheDir, errors.Errorf("cache dir %v is not a directory", cachedir)
 	}
 
-	return nil
+	return newCacheDir, nil
 }