diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fdf85098..0f09b55c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ src/lib-alloc.c
 
 # foptimize-strlen = gcc issue culprit
 lib: verify extract
+	mkdir -p out
 	$(CC) -O3 \
 	-DKRML_VERIFIED_UINT128 \
 	-I $(KRML_HOME)/include \
@@ -180,13 +181,14 @@ lib: verify extract
 -shared -fPIC \
 $(FILES) \
 src/lib-alloc.c \
--o bench/starmalloc.so
+-o out/starmalloc.so
 
 #-Wmissing-prototypes
 #-std=c17
 #-Wall -Wextra -Wcast-align=strict -Wcast-qual
 #-fvisibility=hidden
 hardened_lib: verify extract
+	mkdir -p out
 	$(CC) -DKRML_VERIFIED_UINT128 \
 	-pipe -O3 -flto -fPIC \
 	-fno-plt -fstack-clash-protection -fcf-protection -fstack-protector-strong \
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ hardened_lib: verify extract
 -shared -fPIC \
 $(FILES) \
 src/lib-alloc.c \
--o bench/h_starmalloc.so \
+-o out/h_starmalloc.so \
 
 # test the allocator as a shared library with a simple program
 test-alloc1: lib
diff --git a/setup-all.sh b/setup-all.sh
index a2ffae8d..c8e8ca9f 100644
--- a/setup-all.sh
+++ b/setup-all.sh
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ apply_starmalloc_tweak() {
     install StarMalloc libs within mimalloc-bench dir"
   pushd extern/mimalloc-bench 1>/dev/null
   mkdir -p extern/st
-  cp out/*.so extern/st
+  cp ../../out/*.so extern/st
   if [[ -f "../mb-tweak-starmalloc.txt" ]]; then
   	echo "StarMalloc tweak already applied to mimalloc-bench"
   else
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ else
   cat <<-EOF
   Now, everything is ready to bench StarMalloc wrt to other allocators,
   using mimalloc-bench.
-  From the mimalloc-bench/out/bench directory,
+  From the extern/mimalloc-bench/out/bench directory,
   you can use the following command:
   bash ../../bench.sh \$ALLOCATORS \$BENCHES,
   e.g.