diff --git a/geojson.c b/geojson.c
index d596f0a6..d285f304 100644
--- a/geojson.c
+++ b/geojson.c
@@ -286,15 +286,34 @@ static void merge(struct merge *merges, int nmerges, unsigned char *map, FILE *f
 	}
 }
 
-void read_json(FILE *f, char *fname, char *layername, int maxzoom, int minzoom, sqlite3 *outdb, struct pool *exclude, int exclude_all, double droprate, int buffer) {
-	char metaname[] = "/tmp/meta.XXXXXXXX";
-	char indexname[] = "/tmp/index.XXXXXXXX";
+void read_json(FILE *f, char *fname, char *layername, int maxzoom, int minzoom, sqlite3 *outdb, struct pool *exclude, int exclude_all, double droprate, int buffer, char *tmpdir) {
+	char metaname[strlen(tmpdir) + strlen("/meta.XXXXXXXX") + 1];
+	char indexname[strlen(tmpdir) + strlen("/index.XXXXXXXX") + 1];
+
+	sprintf(metaname, "%s%s", tmpdir, "/meta.XXXXXXXX");
+	sprintf(indexname, "%s%s", tmpdir, "/index.XXXXXXXX");
 
 	int metafd = mkstemp(metaname);
+	if (metafd < 0) {
+		perror(metaname);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 	int indexfd = mkstemp(indexname);
+	if (indexfd < 0) {
+		perror(indexname);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 
 	FILE *metafile = fopen(metaname, "wb");
+	if (metafile == NULL) {
+		perror(metaname);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 	FILE *indexfile = fopen(indexname, "wb");
+	if (indexfile == NULL) {
+		perror(indexname);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 	long long fpos = 0;
 
 	unlink(metaname);
@@ -673,12 +692,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	int force = 0;
 	double droprate = 2.5;
 	int buffer = 5;
+	char *tmpdir = "/tmp";
 
 	struct pool exclude;
 	pool_init(&exclude, 0);
 	int exclude_all = 0;
 
-	while ((i = getopt(argc, argv, "l:n:z:Z:d:D:o:x:r:b:fX")) != -1) {
+	while ((i = getopt(argc, argv, "l:n:z:Z:d:D:o:x:r:b:fXt:")) != -1) {
 		switch (i) {
 		case 'n':
 			name = optarg;
@@ -728,8 +748,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 			force = 1;
 			break;
 
+		case 't':
+			tmpdir = optarg;
+			break;
+
 		default:
-			fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s -o out.mbtiles [-n name] [-l layername] [-z maxzoom] [-Z minzoom] [-d detail] [-D lower-detail] [-x excluded-field ...] [-X] [-r droprate] [-b buffer] [file.json]\n", argv[0]);
+			fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s -o out.mbtiles [-n name] [-l layername] [-z maxzoom] [-Z minzoom] [-d detail] [-D lower-detail] [-x excluded-field ...] [-X] [-r droprate] [-b buffer] [-t tmpdir] [file.json]\n", argv[0]);
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 	}
@@ -759,7 +783,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 			if (f == NULL) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s: %s\n", argv[0], argv[i], strerror(errno));
 			} else {
-				read_json(f, name ? name : argv[i], layer, maxzoom, minzoom, outdb, &exclude, exclude_all, droprate, buffer);
+				read_json(f, name ? name : argv[i], layer, maxzoom, minzoom, outdb, &exclude, exclude_all, droprate, buffer, tmpdir);
 				fclose(f);
 			}
 		}
@@ -767,7 +791,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "%s: Only accepts one input file\n", argv[0]);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	} else {
-		read_json(stdin, name ? name : outdir, layer, maxzoom, minzoom, outdb, &exclude, exclude_all, droprate, buffer);
+		read_json(stdin, name ? name : outdir, layer, maxzoom, minzoom, outdb, &exclude, exclude_all, droprate, buffer, tmpdir);
 	}
 
 	mbtiles_close(outdb, argv);