diff --git a/libsndio/aucat.c b/libsndio/aucat.c
index 34b2b29..023dab3 100644
--- a/libsndio/aucat.c
+++ b/libsndio/aucat.c
@@ -244,7 +244,8 @@ _aucat_wdata(struct aucat *hdl, const void *buf, size_t len,
 static int
 aucat_mkcookie(unsigned char *cookie)
 {
-#define COOKIE_SUFFIX	"/.aucat_cookie"
+#define COOKIE_DIR	"/.sndio"
+#define COOKIE_SUFFIX	"/.sndio/cookie"
 #define TEMPL_SUFFIX	".XXXXXXXX"
 	struct stat sb;
 	char *home, *path = NULL, *tmp = NULL;
@@ -311,11 +312,20 @@ bad_gen:
 	/*
 	 * try to save the cookie
 	 */
+
 	if (home == NULL)
 		goto done;
 	tmp = malloc(path_len + sizeof(TEMPL_SUFFIX));
 	if (tmp == NULL)
 		goto done;
+
+	/* create ~/.sndio directory */
+	memcpy(tmp, home, home_len);
+	memcpy(tmp + home_len, COOKIE_DIR, sizeof(COOKIE_DIR));
+	if (mkdir(tmp, 0755) < 0 && errno != EEXIST)
+		goto done;
+
+	/* create cookie file in it */
 	memcpy(tmp, path, path_len);
 	memcpy(tmp + path_len, TEMPL_SUFFIX, sizeof(TEMPL_SUFFIX));
 	fd = mkstemp(tmp);
diff --git a/libsndio/sndio.7 b/libsndio/sndio.7
index 171235f..08b39f7 100644
--- a/libsndio/sndio.7
+++ b/libsndio/sndio.7
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ Users are identified by their
 which is automatically generated by audio or MIDI applications
 upon the first connection to the server.
 The cookie is stored in
-.Pa "$HOME/.aucat_cookie"
+.Pa "$HOME/.sndio/cookie"
 and contains 128 bits of raw random data.
 .Pp
 If a session needs to be shared between multiple users, they