diff --git a/Lib/tempfile.py b/Lib/tempfile.py
index f95920d5a4a..c1413898b52 100644
--- a/Lib/tempfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tempfile.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ template = None
 
 def gettempdir():
     global tempdir
+    if tempdir is not None:
+	return tempdir
     attempdirs = ['/usr/tmp', '/tmp', os.getcwd(), os.curdir]
     if os.environ.has_key('TMPDIR'):
 	attempdirs.insert(0, os.environ['TMPDIR'])