diff --git a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/commands/sphere/mod.rs b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/commands/sphere/mod.rs
index 423e11515..1280a407f 100644
--- a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/commands/sphere/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/commands/sphere/mod.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ use url::Url;
 pub async fn sphere_create(owner_key: &str, workspace: &mut Workspace) -> Result<(Did, Mnemonic)> {
     workspace.ensure_sphere_uninitialized()?;
 
-    let sphere_paths = SpherePaths::initialize(workspace.working_directory()).await?;
+    let sphere_paths = SpherePaths::new(workspace.working_directory());
 
     let sphere_context_artifacts = SphereContextBuilder::default()
         .create_sphere()
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ You will be asked to enter them if you ever need to transfer ownership of the sp
         mnemonic
     );
 
-    workspace.initialize(sphere_paths)?;
+    workspace.initialize(sphere_paths).await?;
 
     Ok((sphere_identity.clone(), mnemonic.into()))
 }
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ Type or paste the code here and press enter:"#
     let cid = Cid::from_str(cid_string.trim())
         .map_err(|_| anyhow!("Could not parse the authorization identity as a CID"))?;
 
-    let sphere_paths = SpherePaths::initialize(workspace.working_directory()).await?;
+    let sphere_paths = SpherePaths::new(workspace.working_directory());
 
     {
         let mut sphere_context = Arc::new(Mutex::new(
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ Type or paste the code here and press enter:"#
         sphere_context.sync().await?;
     }
 
-    workspace.initialize(sphere_paths)?;
+    workspace.initialize(sphere_paths).await?;
     workspace.render(render_depth, true).await?;
 
     // TODO(#103): Recovery path if the auth needs to change for some reason
diff --git a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/paths.rs b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/paths.rs
index 234306fa7..5fa470f27 100644
--- a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/paths.rs
+++ b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/paths.rs
@@ -73,8 +73,9 @@ impl SpherePaths {
         path.is_absolute() && path.join(SPHERE_DIRECTORY).is_dir()
     }
 
-    // Root is the path that contains the .sphere folder
-    fn new(root: &Path) -> Self {
+    /// Construct a new [SpherePaths] given a `root` path, a directory
+    /// that will contain a `.sphere` directory.
+    pub fn new(root: &Path) -> Self {
         let sphere = root.join(SPHERE_DIRECTORY);
 
         Self {
@@ -90,25 +91,23 @@ impl SpherePaths {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Initialize [SpherePaths] for a given root path. This has the effect of
+    /// Initialize [SpherePaths] given its root path. This has the effect of
     /// creating the "private" directory hierarchy (starting from
     /// [SPHERE_DIRECTORY] inside the root).
-    pub async fn initialize(root: &Path) -> Result<Self> {
-        if !root.is_absolute() {
+    pub async fn initialize(&self) -> Result<()> {
+        if !self.root.is_absolute() {
             return Err(anyhow!(
                 "Must use an absolute path to initialize sphere directories; got {:?}",
-                root
+                self.root
             ));
         }
 
-        let paths = Self::new(root);
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&self.storage)?;
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&self.content)?;
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&self.peers)?;
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&self.slugs)?;
 
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&paths.storage)?;
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&paths.content)?;
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&paths.peers)?;
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&paths.slugs)?;
-
-        Ok(paths)
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     /// Attempt to discover an existing workspace root by traversing ancestor
diff --git a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/workspace.rs b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/workspace.rs
index 52626a229..64fc0f2da 100644
--- a/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/workspace.rs
+++ b/rust/noosphere-cli/src/native/workspace.rs
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ impl Workspace {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Asserts that a local sphere has been intiialized
+    /// Asserts that a local sphere has been initialized
     pub fn ensure_sphere_initialized(&self) -> Result<()> {
         let sphere_paths = self.require_sphere_paths()?;
         if !sphere_paths.sphere().exists() {
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ impl Workspace {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    /// Asserts that a local sphere has _not_ been intiialized
+    /// Asserts that a local sphere has _not_ been initialized
     pub fn ensure_sphere_uninitialized(&self) -> Result<()> {
         if let Some(sphere_paths) = self.sphere_paths() {
             match sphere_paths.sphere().exists() {
@@ -291,11 +291,11 @@ impl Workspace {
     }
 
     /// Initialize a [Workspace] in place with a given set of [SpherePaths].
-    pub fn initialize(&mut self, sphere_paths: SpherePaths) -> Result<()> {
+    pub async fn initialize(&mut self, sphere_paths: SpherePaths) -> Result<()> {
         self.ensure_sphere_uninitialized()?;
 
+        sphere_paths.initialize().await?;
         self.sphere_paths = Some(Arc::new(sphere_paths));
-
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/rust/noosphere/tests/cli.rs b/rust/noosphere/tests/cli.rs
index 4acba1574..992d3846d 100644
--- a/rust/noosphere/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/rust/noosphere/tests/cli.rs
@@ -37,6 +37,28 @@ async fn orb_sphere_create_initializes_a_sphere() -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
+async fn orb_sphere_create_failure_cleans_directory() -> Result<()> {
+    initialize_tracing(None);
+    let client = CliSimulator::new()?;
+
+    client.orb(&["key", "create", "foobar"]).await?;
+    if client
+        .orb(&["sphere", "create", "--owner-key", "not-foo"])
+        .await
+        .is_ok()
+    {
+        panic!("Unexpected success.");
+    }
+
+    assert!(client
+        .orb(&["sphere", "create", "--owner-key", "foobar"])
+        .await
+        .is_ok());
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
 async fn orb_can_enable_multiple_replicas_to_synchronize() -> Result<()> {
     initialize_tracing(None);