diff --git a/src/server/simpleslave.c b/src/server/simpleslave.c
--- a/src/server/simpleslave.c
+++ b/src/server/simpleslave.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
   char *urltoTar;      /* Full URL to the server-side location of job#.tgz */
   char *pathtoTar;     /* Full path to the location of the job#.tgz */
+  char *pathtoTardir;
 
   char *urltoOutput;   /* Full URL where output is posted */
   char *pathtoOutput;  /* Full path to the output (rendered) file */
@@ -140,8 +141,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
         fprintf(stderr, "Preparing to render frame %d in job %d\n", framenum, jobnum);
 
-        prepareJobPaths(jobnum, framenum, outputExt, datadir, &urltoTar, &pathtoTar, &pathtoJob, &pathtoJobfile, &urltoOutput, &pathtoOutput, &pathtoOutdir);
-        // free(outputExt);
+        prepareJobPaths(jobnum, framenum, outputExt, datadir, &urltoTar, &pathtoTar, &pathtoTardir, &pathtoJob, &pathtoJobfile, &urltoOutput, &pathtoOutput, &pathtoOutdir);
+        //free(outputExt);
+        mkdir(pathtoTardir, 0700);
         int dlret = downloadTar(urltoTar, pathtoTar);
         if(dlret == 0)
           fprintf(stderr,"Got data tarball\n");
@@ -150,7 +152,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         else
           fprintf(stderr,"Using existing tarball %s...\n", pathtoTar);
 
-        unpackJob(pathtoJob, pathtoTar);
+        struct stat jbuffer;
+        int jstatus = stat(pathtoJobfile, &jbuffer);
+        if(jstatus == -1){
+          fprintf(stderr,"Main job file does not exist, extracting...\n");
+
+          // If error unpacking tarball
+          if(unpackJob(pathtoJob, pathtoTar))
+            return 1;
+        }
+
 
         /* ignore return because directory may exist already */
         fprintf(stderr,"Creating output directory %s\n", pathtoOutdir);
@@ -173,6 +184,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         int fstatus = stat(pathtoOutput, &buffer);
         if(fstatus == -1){
           fprintf(stderr,"Frame was not rendered correctly! Scene may not have camera, or your blender installation is not working.\n");
+          // @TODO: Unassign the frame on the server so other slaves can render it
           return 1;
         }
         else{